Polaroid
by Cardboard Edward
Summary: Between heartbreak, betrayal, math lessons, an annoying little sister, and what might just be a crush, Minami Shimada has her hands full. Minami/Kouta.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! I've been a huge Baka Test fan for a year now, and have been meaning to write this fic for a _really, really _long time. I know most people must think "oh dude, this pairing is totally crack", but hey, it's my OTP anways~ Hope you enjoy this!

* * *

She felt like curling up and taking a nap in the hot sun right now, but the loud conversations of her classmates were going to be a fine obstacle in that. She was surprised she had even managed to do school work today, seeing as she stayed up too late helping Hazuki on a school project… ugh.

It was a warm spring day and everyone was rather cheerful, despite the defeat at the hands of Class A a week ago, but she felt like the edges of her lips were being held up by clothes pins. Painful clothes pins. Minami Shimada was, to put it simply, way too tired for this.

_He _was missing, but that was nothing new. Probably was stuck in remedial classes, she thought lazily, leaning on her arm. What was troubling her was the lack of Mizuki. Her bubbly pink haired best friend never got stuck in the extra classes- she ignored the pang of jealousy deep in her chest, envy that someone could be so _perfect_- so where was she…? Gazing around, Minami took attendance of every one else in her class. Kinoshita and Sakamoto were talking animatedly about something (probably a battle tactic) surrounded by groups of students taking place in a Pokemon Tournament. Tsuchiya was gently wiping the lens of his camera. Minami straightened her skirt out of habit.

Leaning back and sighing, Minami took out a worn, several times finished, Sudoku book, wiping the eraser shavings off with one hand. Math, at least, was always a comfort.

The door slammed open hard, and Minami looked up as if falling out of trance. She had been doing so well, too. Ugh. Aki stood at the door, grinning sheepishly, and her heart did gymnastics. Until she realized that Mizuki was next to him.

Holding his hand.

"I confessed," Aki admitted, rubbing the back of his head with his other hand. Mizuki looked down, blushing.

"Me too." The class erupted in cheers, while Minami sat dazed. It felt like she'd been stabbed in the chest. Everything seemed distant. Sakamoto clapping his best friend on the back, saying, "It's about time." Kinoshita smiled, giving his congratulations. A camera flash. Mizuki and Aki? She had wondered- no, suspected, but…

She just didn't want to accept it.

The rest of the day passed in a lot of pain. Said gaping chest wound was being an asshole, not to mention Minami bit her lip every time she felt like bursting into tears. Which was a lot. What she was terrified of was that someone would notice. And ask what was wrong, and she'd just cry, and cry, and cry. She hated feeling so weak. So as the school bell rang, Minami stood up, grabbed her bag, and turned to leave without a word. Kinoshita, to her surprise, stopped her. They didn't talk much (well, more then she talked to Sakamato, and _definitely _more often then she attempted a conversation with Tsuchiya) and she wouldn't consider him close enough to notice that she had a giant pool of (metaphorical) blood spouting from her chest.

She flashed him a quick, hopefully genuine looking smile. "What is it?"

"I am hosting a bonfire at my beach house tonight," he said, using his typical formal way of speech. "Everyone is going. Can you?"

"Of course she will." Aki said, before Mizuki ssshed him. He ignored her. "Won't you?" Minami pressed her lips together, back pressed against the door. She wanted to run.

"I'm busy, actually. I have to help my sister with a project." Not like any of them knew that Hazuki turned it in a few hours ago.

"Oh." Mizuki said, looking miserable, like her comment was a deep blow to her ego. She looked up at her, expression hopeful. "Can you get it done early? I would really love you to be there." Aki stared at the pink haired genius, admiration in his eyes plain. He'd probably jump of a cliff if she asked him to.

It was weird, how she was tempted to stomp over and imprint his face into the floor, but she realized, under all the hurt and bitter jealousy, that Mizuki was still in, fact her best friend.

… She really needed better friends. "…I guess I can try." She relented. Mizuki beamed. "Oh, thank you so much! I'll make it up to you!" Minami very much doubted that. Kinoshita smiled too, hesitantly, as if he could sense _something _was wrong, and handed her a card with an address on it, telling her to arrive around six thirty. She thanked him, waved good-bye half heartedly, and exited the classroom.

She was halfway home, running full speed, before she broke down and sobbed.

* * *

One nap, a hot bubble bath, and several truckloads of tissue boxes later, Minami stood in her underwear, hesitating as she glanced at the outfits laid out on her bed. She really wanted an outfit that said "hey, asshole, don't you wish you picked me instead?" But the forecast said it was going to be cold tonight, and freezing her ass off was not very attractive. She would wear her inserts, but _someone _had destroyed them. She scowled at the memory. Why did he even care?

Oh well. Trying to figure out the psychological mysteries of the school's infamous pervert was just bound to give her a headache, and she already had a bad one from crying so hard earlier. Minami finally picked a cute green tank top, paired with a simple white hoodie and skinny jeans. She didn't have many shoes, so she borrowed a pair of flip-flops from her mom's closet. (It wasn't like she was around to complain.)

She only applied some lip-gloss, as she was hesitant to apply any eye make up incase some rogue tears decided to stage an escape. Mizuki had already called earlier to confirm she'd be there, so there was no backing out.

"_Onee-chan_!" She turned. Hazuki was smiling at her. "You look pretty!"

Minami smiled back at her, ruffling her hair. "Thanks. Be good while I'm gone, okay!"

"Alright." Hazuki said, sounding strangely obedient. She was probably going to eat boatloads of sugar as soon she left. She was reaching for the door when her sister stopped her again.

"…Minami?"

"Hm?"

"Please don't cry so much."

Minami gave a little half laugh. "I'll try. Lock the door behind me, alright?"

"Okay."

It was going to be a long night.

The bus ride over was both dull and infuriating. Dull, because all she had was her phone and no one was texting her. And infuriating because she really, really hated when older men checked her out. Ugh. She managed to get off at Kinoshita's stop without any incidents, however, and followed down the easy to read directions (thank god for German) she printed from her computer at home.

When she arrived at the Kinoshita residence, Mizuki flung her arms around her, and Minami hugged her back, albeit hesitantly.

"These are so good!" She said, handed her a batch of cookies. Minami hadn't tried her cooking before, so it wasn't just her growling stomach that led her to chew the chocolate chip cookies with interest. She _was _a good cook, though Minami personally thought she was better.

"Akihisa made them." She beamed. Minami almost spit them out. She stopped using suffixes _already_? They had only been dating for a couple hours! She swallowed, coughing hoarsely.

"Are you alright, Minami-chan?" Minami nodded quickly in answer.

"Uh, yeah. I just need some water." She wandered through the huge house, looking for the kitchen. On her way there, she spotted the other Class F (and 2 class A) members. The Kinoshita twins were arguing, (Minami guessed that his sister wasn't exactly for the whole "invite a bunch of idiots to our private beach house" plan) Sakamoto and Kirishima were talking quietly on the love seat, and Tsuchiya was snapping photos of the house, bizarrely enough. She had never seen him take a picture of something that wasn't breathing.

He looked up at her, and silently pointed in a direction. Mystified, she followed the path, and found the kitchen automatically. Huh. Grabbing a water bottle, she returned to the living room, waiting for the sign to go outdoors.

Maybe ten minutes later, Kinoshita directed them out of the house, the other Kinoshita scowling as if hoping she could somehow sabotage the bonfire before it happened.

"Here we go!" He said triumphantly, stopping at a fire pit close to the water. He and Sakamoto started working on the fire. Minami stared at the ocean, feeling distracted.

"Are you alright?" She turned, surprised. Kirishima had sat next to her, face unreadable. She was dressed in a light purple cardigan and long, lacey skirt.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." Kirishima shot her a look, but walked away, her long hair catching the breeze. Minami was mystified. How had the class A rep, of all people, noticed? She thought she was acting fairly well, as the class F students hadn't treated her any differently. Apparently not.

She shook her head slightly. No reason to get worried about that now. She leaned back and enjoyed the fire.

The evening turned hell-ish fairly quickly. First off, as soon as Aki sat down, Mizuki curled up next to him like a cat. It made her want to gag. Then, as if taking this as an example, Kirishima and Sakamoto decided to get cozy, talking in a low, quiet voice. Minami wanted to scream. No way in hell would she agree to go if she had known this was a couples' gathering!

She looked desperately towards the twins, but they had resumed the argument from indoors and paid her no mind. It was when Akihisa and Mizuki started kissing-_kissing! _In front of all these people! That she simply couldn't handle it anymore, and she stormed off. No one even seemed to notice.

Minami walked away in no real direction, just wanting to walk until she couldn't see the group, and they couldn't see her. This was a stupid idea. Did she really think she was strong enough to handle seeing them together? She finally just stumbled blindly to an area, and sat down on a bench and sobbed. She cried into her knees, soaking her jeans, arms crossed over her legs, feeling like crap. Stupid, stupid idea!

She couldn't really say how long she cried; she just knew she was amazed she didn't run out of tears earlier that day. She also couldn't say why she hadn't noticed that someone was hesitantly trying to approach her. It might have been that she was crying that loudly, or that he was simply absolutely silent. All that she could say about the moment, when she finally figured out someone was next to her, she did not correctly guess who it was.

She didn't raise her head. Minami was actually scared- not really that it was some creep, she could take care of _that_, she just didn't really know how to explain herself if Mizuki or, god forbid, Aki, had found her crying. A pet died? Her parents were being rude? What was she supposed to say? For a second, she actually hoped it was Kirishima. She seemed to get it. And she was dating Sakamoto, after all, who she had liked for years, according to rumors…

So she was completely shocked when she finally looked up and saw a different dark haired student looking at her, holding out a spotless handkerchief.

Tsuchiya Kouta.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! I really, really have to thank you guys for the reviews- you are all so sweet! And I'm very happy this little fic has got people to start considering a Minami/Kouta pairing- I absolutely adore them together. (Obviously.) Thank you for reading this, and chapter 3 will be soon! (I hope.)

* * *

Eyes widening in surprise, she stared at him in shock. She didn't- it never occurred to her- _him_? It took her a second to remember he was offering her something, and she reached for the handkerchief. It was soft and nice on her face, as crying a lot does hurt.

"Thank you." She said, dazed. Her voice was shaking and uncertain. He nodded, and then looked behind him as if he was considering bolting.

"Sit." Minami said, surprising herself. He sat next to her, not too close, but within an arm's reach, on the bench. "Did… did someone tell you to follow me?"

He shook his head.

"Did you hear me crying?" She said, mortified. Oh god, what if everyone had heard her sobs back at the bonfire?

He shook his head again.

"Oh." She said, out of theories. "Why did you come here, then?"

"…You seemed… upset." What was with the quiet ones being emotional geniuses? "… Since lunch."

Which was another shock. "You noticed?" Minami had assumed the only thing he noticed about her was her bra size and the color of her panties.

Tsuchiya hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, but just nodded.

"I didn't think anyone did." Minami said softly, putting her head on her knees. She felt a strange urge to thank him for it.

"…Akihisa?" She nodded. His silences were contagious.

They just sat there, the silence unbroken, watching the ocean. It was strangely comforting, just sitting here with him. He wasn't trying to take indecent pictures of her, or even trying to talk. All he did was sit beside her, one knee up, taking photos of the sea. He waited with her until she stopped crying. (Which was a longer time then she'd willingly admit) When she finally took a deep breath, amazed that she had completely soaked his handkerchief, he cleared his throat softly.

Minami snapped back to reality, checking her phone. "It's already nine? Crap! Hazuki is expecting me home… she's going to burn down the house unsupervised… damnit, Minami…" She spun around in a circle, shoving everything into her pockets. Then, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Tsuchiya hadn't fallen asleep or something, she started speeding down the slope, arms out for balance.

The group noticed their reappearance vaguely, but no one commented on the fact that the two of them had disappeared and reappeared from the same direction, at the same time. Thank God. Well, save for Kirishima's odd look directed at Minami, but she didn't stress about it. Mizuki and Akihisa just looked blushy and content, and Minami resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

She thanked the Kinoshitas for letting her stay, glad no one could see how red eyed she was. (Well, Tsuchiya could probably guess, but he didn't count.) Minami stared up at the sky as she walked, and realized how creepy walking to the bus was at night. It was one thing to walk by when the sky was an orangey-pink, and the sun was setting, but it was another thing entirely when she had to use her cell phone as a flashlight.

She was waiting at the bus stop a while, in her own little world (already considering what movies she'd be watching at home, fictional therapy for the soul) and was staring at the street, willing the bus to come faster. She hoped she didn't get the bus times wrong.

Minami was surprised for a second when Tsuchiya joined her at the stop, and then realized she never heard anything that would contradict him being a bus rider. She nodded in greeting, and he nodded back.

A very conversational fellow. But he wasn't as bad as she thought he was, she mused. She got onto the bus a couple minutes later, and immediately shuddered. The bus was empty, save for quite a few men between their twenties and forties. She was never really afraid of being attacked on public transportation, as there were always lots of people around, but on a night like this… she was honestly creeped out.

Minami had planned on giving Tsuchiya some space, but found herself gravitating toward him as if being pulled by a magnet.

"Can I sit here?" He raised his eyebrows slightly, but nodded. She sat down; a lot closer then they were on the bench, and marveled inwardly at the fact she was sitting next to a pervert to defend her from… other perverts?

It worked, though. The other guys still stared- that was unavoidable, right? But none attempted to sit next to her or anything. For a second, she wondered if Tsuchiya knew he was acting as her fake boyfriend. (She didn't think anyone confused him with her older brother.)

She doubted it. He was an idiot, after all.

At her stop, she stood up, bid him _Auf Wiedersehen, _(sounding a lot warmer out loud then she planned) and walked off the bus.

It wasn't until the bus sped past her that she realized she forgot to give him his handkerchief back.

* * *

The weekend past by with comfortable movies, lots of baking, and more crying, though it was more like a river then the giant tidal waves of Friday. Her cat, Kuu, was a faithful companion in her grief. Hazuki, thank God, had not burned down the house, and behaved herself quite well. Not to mention that she hadn't ratted her out to their parents that she had gone out. This was reinforced by sweet bribes on her sister's part. Their parents, bless them, had just assumed Minami had decided to be nice to her sister just because.

She had carefully washed the handkerchief and folded it up on her bedside table, anxious to return it to its rightful owner. She kept imagining Tsuchiya nose bleeding at something and looking desperately for his handkerchief, only to remember- oh, yeah, don't have it. Which was kinda gross (sometimes she wondered how he and Akihisa could bleed so much without dying), but made her feel guilty nonetheless.

Of course, she was also anxious about seeing _those_ two again, because she wasn't sure if she was going to a) cry b) kill Aki, or c) just turn into a giant mess. Probably all three. Hazuki was worried about her, but didn't pry, at least.

When she finally woke up for school Monday morning, she wondered if she should just play sick.

Getting dressed, ready, and eating breakfast felt like torture. Every part of her was screaming, "Just go back to bed and hide!" but Minami kept moving. She carefully packed Tsuchiya's handkerchief in her pocket, said goodbye to her parents and little sister, and walked out the door.

It was tempting just to run back and hide on her porch. She kept going, step by painful step, until she arrived in Class F. She took a big breath and stepped inside.

Much to her merciful glee, Mizuki and Akihisa were on opposite sides of the class. Her best friend automatically brightened when she saw her, jumping up. "There you are! I thought you wouldn't show." Very tempting.

Minami smiled. "Nah. My parents would kill me." Mizuki laughed.

"So, did you have fun on Friday? I know you went off somewhere part of the way through…"

No. It was a torturous hell, partially caused by you. "Oh yeah! I had tons of fun. It was so pretty there. And the marshmallows?"

Mizuki smiled, content. "Yeah! I don't know why Akihisa," Minami tried not to flinch, "wouldn't eat my chocolate, though." She looked confused and sad. "I made it just for him."

"Ah. Sucks. He's just an idiot."

Aki turned around, as if he heard the insult with super hearing. He stood up and walked over.

"Ah, good morning Minami-sama." She nodded a greeting, unable to look at his face. "… That tank top you wore…" She froze. Was he really about to compliment her? But… Mizuki…What was going on?

"…It really showed how flat you are."

She wrestled him, as usual, but it was more for show then actual anger. Her heart just wasn't into it. She didn't want to give him- or anyone else- a sign that anything had changed. Tsuchiya flitted around them, as usual, and Minami realized how hard he was to notice normally. She didn't even think he was at school yet.

The camera flashed several times, and, as usual, she ignored it. She never thought about how… routine like her life was.

She didn't dare give him it back in front of all these people- as far as her friends knew, the two of them had wandered off separately, and returned from the same path only by crazy random happenstance.

Minami wasn't going to fuel any rumors today, that's for sure.

Class passed by mostly uneventfully, until Iron Man announced that they would be doing a short, partnered project in class. Minami wasn't really worried- it just meant more faking with Mizuki.

Once he dismissed them to go team up, though, _Aki _showing up in front of her was not what she expected.

"Hey, so-"

She cut him off without thinking, and blurted out, "I already have a partner." She did?

"Really?" He said, surprised. "Who?"

Panic set in. If she said Mizuki, he knew she'd be lying, because she was sitting on the other side of the room, and hadn't moved an inch since Iron Man spoke. Kinoshita and Sakamoto were working together. She didn't know any other students' names. Except… oh, crap.  
"Tsuchiya." She said quickly. This shocked him even more.

"Ehhhh? Really?"

"Really." Tsuchiya was staring at them, shooting her a look. When Aki glanced at him, he switched into a natural looking pose of staring at the board, deep in thought. He sure could move fast.

"…Huh. Well, I was just coming over here to ask if you wanted to work with Mizuki." Oh. "…But I guess I'll just have to work with her instead." Oh, don't play pretend like you're completely disappointed. Ugh.

"Oh. Tell her sorry for me, then?" She said, smiling at him (with great effort).

"Sure." He replied, walking off.

Tsuchiya appeared at her desk… pillow… thing in an instant.

"…We're working together?" He asked, waiting for confirmation. Minami stifled a sigh.

"Yeah. Here, this is easy, you can work on this and I'll do this half." She pointed out the parts on the work sheet. He nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, it was finished. Ah, sweet math.

"Hey, can I check yours?" He hesitated and she just dove in, scooping his papers off his board.

Her eyes widened as she glanced at the sheets. Scribbled across the pages was a copious amount of work, crossed out again and again. And the answers- _Bist du deppert!_ how the hell did he get _that_?

"… You're…" she stared at him, incredulous. "...completely, absolutely, utterly hopeless! My little sister is better at math then you! I don't even… you're worse then Akihisa!" His face colored and he looked away. "I mean, I knew you were in class F, but… Jesus."

He stared down at his feet. "…It's my worst subject." The guilt started to kick in. She didn't mean to flip out like that.

"Sorry. I'm just… amazed. You amaze me." Minami said, backpedaling.

"…Amazingly bad, maybe…"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't say that. Everyone can improve. Here." She replaced the papers on his board and set to correcting, doing it in slow, careful steps, having to repeat them often. He had a nervous habit of picking up his camera and cleaning it off whenever he got confused, and this caused her to have to do the whole equation over again. Not to mention that Mizuki's slightest movements easily distracted him. It was almost tempting to take off her shirt and make sure that he would pay attention. Almost.

Eventually, after going over almost every problem, she let him go on his own. They were still ahead, due to the fact a teaching Minami was still a fast Minami, and most of the class was still working.

A few painfully boring minutes later, Tsuchiya tapped her arm gently and she turned to check his work. She was impressed.

"You got these two right- you messed up on that step though, see, you forgot to carry the four- but otherwise, perfect. You learn fast." She beamed at him.

He muttered something too quiet for her to hear.

"I'm sorry, what was that?' She said, frowning. He shook his head.

"I'll turn these in, then." She stood up. He automatically curved his body to an angle where he could see up her skirt. Acting on instinct, she kicked him- hard- in the stomach. He winced deeply.

Feeling content, she dropped the papers into the tray and returned to her seat. Tsuchiya stood up to leave, and finally it occurred to her that she had something to return to him.

"Wait!" Minami stage whispered, standing up. "I almost forgot." She glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, and then gingerly removed the handkerchief from her pocket. "Here." He needed it, as a little trail of red was already leaking out his nose. Guess he saw something before she managed to kick him. Damnit.

"…Thank you."

"I should probably be thanking you," she sighed. "...Oh, and Tsuchiya?"

He looked at her.

"… Would you want me to tutor you?"

He nodded so fast Minami was worried his head would fly off.


	3. Chapter 3

And here it is! Chapter tres. I'll hopefully be updating this thing once a week. Hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

Minami made a face at herself in the mirror, feeling the reluctance at this plan throw her off doing her make up. Oh sure, tutoring Tsuchiya had sounded fine on Monday, when she was still emotionally upset and thought doing a good deed would make her feel better. Not exactly. She felt sick to her stomach with dread, not to mention she took _two hours _to pick out her outfit, as it seemed everything she owned had a low cut, or was too short.

This was terrible, she mused. Why did boys- he was simply the worst offender, she knew damn well most boys were like this- make everything so difficult? Oh well. It was too late to back out now. Not that she couldn't pretend to be sick or anything… she'd just feel really bad.

Another problem was the location. Every library in the area was closed on Sundays, and there was no way in hell her parents would let her bring a boy over to the house (completely educational reasons or not), so when the blue haired photographer offered his house, she accepted very, very, reluctantly.

Minami tied her bow with nimble fingers, wondering what Tsuchiya's parents could be like. Probably neglective. And oblivious to their son's… hobbies. And apparently fully willing to let a girl come over. She decided she didn't like his parents much.

Whatever. She could do this. She could _totally _do this. A quick lie to her parents (Her cover being shopping with Mizuki. Hopefully they didn't know her parents phone number) and she was out the door, following the printed instructions carefully. Her student was only a quick walk away, and she was perfectly on time, despite leaving later then she planned.

Triple checking that the address was correct, she gazed with shock at the house. It was a grand western style building, closer to the one she lived in Germany then the small traditional house her family shared now. He must be _loaded_, Minami mused while she tapped the door with her fist.

The door opened automatically, like Tsuchiya had been waiting for her. He blinked at her and ran a hand through his hair almost nervously before he stuttered out a hello.

"Hi." Minami forced a smile, resisting the urge to turn around and run.

"… You don't have to take your shoes off." He said, opening the door wider. She followed him and held back a gasp.

If the house had looked stunning from the outside, that was _nothing _compared to the grandness inside. It wasn't so much spotless- pillows were throw around casually, shoes littered the front door area un orderly, and there was cat hair everywhere, but it looked so empty. It was obvious that this house was much bigger then needed.

Which was exactly how Minami figured out his parents were not around.

"… Tsuchiya? Where are your parents, anyways?"

He flinched without answering. Not a happy subject, apparently.

"…Never mind. It doesn't matter. You live alone?"

Hesitation, and then a nod. Minami sighed. Well, she did have pepper spray, not to mention she knew he could kick his ass easily. She made a mental survey of the house for escape routes. Paranoia was _not _a bad thing.

"Let's start by reviewing what we learned this week." She said, jumping straight to math. He nodded, looking relieved to end the awkward conversation.

Things she learned about Tsuchiya on that sunny Sunday afternoon:

1. He deserved a world record for his math skills, or lack there of

2. He lived alone, and didn't want to talk about it

3. "Conservative" clothes meant _nothing _to him, as he managed to take pictures of her jeans slowly slipping from her hips before she even noticed

4. He had a cat, name unknown

But after it was all said and done, and she gathered up her notebooks and told him he still had a long way to go, and that she'd be coming back next week, invited or not, she felt herself smiling without realizing it. Which she quickly replaced with a stern, I-am-a-serious-teacher-frown. If anyone had told her Freshmen year that she would tutor Tsuchiya Kouta, ninja pervert at math, she would of scoffed at them.

…Especially if they said she'd almost, maybe, sort of enjoyed it.

The next few days passed rather uneventfully, with more angry pangs of jealousy at Mizuki and Aki (It was like they couldn't get their hands off each other. Disgusting.) though she and Tsuchiya didn't speak at all. They had decided to keep the tutoring hush hush, as their friends would probably do something like dropping in on the lessons uninvited, or something.

That was until Wednesday.

Oh, the morning started off normally enough, with Minami waking up and attacking her formerly beloved Aki photo (it was now a dart board) and getting every last bit of sleep that she could, heading off to school with only a piece of toast for breakfast (Her parents, being doctors, always insisted she should eat more, but she was concerned about her figure. Maybe that was why she was so…underdeveloped.)

Minami had, however, massively overestimated how much time she had, and had to run the entire way to school. If she hadn't been so lean and in shape (lacrosse practice had turned her into a fantastic runner, back in Germany) there would be no chance that she'd make it. So she rushed to school, worried about her time, and made it with seconds to spare. Breathing hard, she collapsed at her pillow, and heard Iron Man clear his throat for an announcement over the sound of her thudding heart.

"There will be no classes today," he said, and the sound of the boys' cheers was almost deafening, "in honor of a summoning event." Minami lifted her head up.

"As you know, we have been trying to implement PE scores into the summoning system." Physical Education was the only class that had no effect on summons- mile times and various other tests never entered the systems, which meant many people didn't bother with it. Minami wasn't one of them, showing off excellent scores in both running and weight lifting.

"Today will be our first ever Summon Relay race." An appreciative whoop rung around the classroom, and Minami actually grinned.

* * *

Minami tugged her hair tighter in her ponytail, drifting through the shaded tents to avoid the hot sun. The first lap was about to begin, and she was up first.

Great.

It wasn't as if she'd be running- no, that would be rather difficult in her miniskirt. Her summon would be doing the job for her. The pink haired student had been apprehensive at first, her PE scores affecting her summon's speed, but upon seeing her miniature clone run in circles so fast it made her dizzy, she was quite reassured.

Her actual participation was what was making her nervous. She had a few minutes to get up to her station- she should be there right now, but she wanted to see the start in person- and answer questions one by one until what's his face took over.

She scanned the tiny summons all posed perfectly at the starting line. Half of the classes- A, F, and B, were participating today, the others having their match tomorrow. About twenty summons were on the line, tiny tails twitching as they waited for the shot to sound, signaling for them to start.

Minami raised and lowered herself on her toes nervously. She wanted to win this so bad_. _Partly for herself, and partly because she wanted to beat Mizuki at _something._

Maybe Akihisa would finally realize what he was missing.

The shot went off before she expected it, and she jumped slightly. Her summon had quite a bit more composure, and leapt off the starting line elegantly, speeding along like a blur. A few kept with the yellow bowed summon, but most held back. Minami busted up laughing when she realized the summons crawling painfully away from the start were all from _Class A_!

Guess though smartasses wish they dropped the books and went outside more, huh?

She allowed herself a full minute of awe, watching the summons going way, way faster then what was possible during battle. Then she turned and sped towards the school building, taking the quickest route she knew to the roof.

"Took you long enough!" Tanaka- right, right, that was his name- scowled at her under his heavy black-framed glasses.

"I'm here, aren't I?" She sighed, swinging herself elegantly up and over the rail around the stairs. Tanaka's arms were crossed, but he said no more, just huffing and walking over to a screen board surrounded by three other Class F members.

It was a pain in the ass, being in a group of all boys. Too much testosterone. They all watched the screen intently, noses almost pressed against it. It was a touch screen, one video showing her summon (a little red circle around it to distinguish it) running along, another a overview of the track twisting around the school, an arrow pointing out the upcoming question station.

"Move it," she said. "…Please." They parted, letting her approach the screen and tap the ? mark button, the machine beginning to make a soft beeping noise.

"Shimada Minami checking in," she said, making sure her voice was easy to hear.

"Loud and clear!" Takahasi said, voice out of the speakers. The screen blurred for a second, and the current video shifted, making room for one angled at Takahashi's booth. She smiled slightly and gave a little wave.

The thud of little feet came through the speakers, and Minami saw several summons mulling around the booth boredly, waiting for their partners to answer the question given to them at the other end of the school.

Simply being good at PE was no way to win this thing- you were given two chances to answer a question through the mic at your end. If you messed up on both tries, you were given a new, even harder question, delaying you even more. If you attempted to cheat- a whisper answered into your ear, a cheat sheet in a pocket, anything, and you would be stuck in remedial classes on Saturdays from now until the end of the year.

The very thought made her shudder.

Her summon bounced into frame, ponytail swinging wildly as it stopped unnaturally- going from a full on run to a complete stand still in one single motion. Takahasi turned and tapped a button on the screen, leaning down to speak into the mouthpiece.

"What are the stages of Meiosis 1?" Minami bit her tongue hard. She knew this, she knew this! She squinted hard, thinking for a few seconds before she felt confident.

"Um, Prophase 1, Metaphase 1, Anaphase 1, and…" she grit her teeth, "…tel-? Telephase 1?" The pink haired teacher smiled. "Correct!"

The class F guys behind her whooped, high fiving, fist bumping, various weird things guys did.

Minami felt her heart lift. Huh. Not so bad, really.

* * *

God, it was so nice to be taking a break. She twisted the water bottle cap and drank thirstily. She had finished her round 20 minutes ago, and had stuck around for one more round before she felt the need to exit, under the code of 'scoping out the competition.' Which was Minami for "getting the hell away from these idiots."

The rest area was immensely better then the roof (she could feel the beginnings of a sunburn down her neck and arms already) even thought the view wasn't quite as good. It had water bottles for free, as well as stats on every player from previous rounds flashing by every minute on a big projection screen. Minami was a tad embarrassed by hers- she hadn't done so hot after the first question, missing her two after it. (To her credit, though, she had managed to get both on her second try.)

But still, she was the star of her team for being the fastest runner. Not that the others were slow (All three had declared PE their favorite subject) but they couldn't hold a candle to her summon's super human speed. But her visions of victory looked far-fetched. She sighed.

The screen changed and she glanced up at it, then dropped her gaze back to her thin hands, cradling her water bottle.

Then she did a double take. A portrait of Tsuchiya Kouta, just barely smiling, was displayed on the screen, summon next to him. His running stats were displayed in the form of stars and the questions he answered underneath. Trying to look casual (most of the teens in the area were completely ignoring the screen) she glanced up and looked his questions.

Minami scowled, "_Dummkopf_." She muttered to herself. The idiot had missed a question they had gone over just last Sunday. Unbelievable. At least his running stats were impressive, but she'd make sure to go over that formula until he could recite in his sleep next Sunday.

She stayed there until the event had finished, waiting with a considerable crowd of people to see the final team rankings. Her own team had rejoined her, seeming unconcerned by the fact she completely ditched them early.

Minami sighed softly as the results flashed onto the big screen. Fifth. It was impressive in a selection of twenty, but not impressive enough to get any prizes. (First gained the winners super speed in battle until the end of year. She heard many boys swear over losing that gimmick.)

Akihisa and Mizuki had gotten dead last. But the way they grinned at each other, fingers intertwined, making a stupid joke just for her, you'd expect they won a round trip to Hong Kong.

Minami sank against the wall, holding a hand against her temple.


	4. Chapter 4

And bam, here is a shorter-then-usual chapter 4! Okay, we need to get more active on this site. I feel awkward being the only writer here who updates...

* * *

"You're going out _again_?"

"Yes, mom. I've been leaving every Sunday for the past three weeks, why would today be any different?"

Her mother just sighed, hand around the handle of her coffee cup.

"I was just hoping you would be home for once," she said, her pink hair hanging over her shoulders as she looked down at the table.

Minami pressed her lips together. "I already told Mizuki I'd be there today…"

"Alright, alright." Her mother replied, hands up, "I trust you. I just would like for us to have a day as a family for once." Her daughter felt a painful stab of guilt. Trust. Ugh.

"I'll be back soon, I promise." She said, leaning over to kiss her mothers forehead, hoping she wouldn't notice her teen's guilt looming over the room. "I'll make dinner tonight."

Her mom smiled. "I'm glad. Be safe!"

"I will!" Minami smiled fakely, turning so that her book bag swung with her. She exited the house quickly, feeling her conscience nag her about the complete lies she was constantly spouting. I can't play with you today, Hazuki, I'm going to the amusement park, or No, Dad, just me and some friends, no boys.

She was starting to feel like a really crappy daughter and sister, but at least she was being a good teacher. But that didn't make her feel any better when she watched her sister skulk off this morning after she rejected taking her to the park.

Her steps were slower then usual as she walked the path to her pupil's house, lost in thought. She _would _tell her parents, if not for the fact she was completely convinced they would flip out, ground her, and refuse to let her tutor him ever again. And then she'd be in major trouble, and Tsuchiya would be failing math again.

Maybe lies were acceptable for the greater good. Sometimes.

Minami heard a noise behind her and flinched, spinning around to see no one there. Great, now she was paranoid. The path was routinely for her now, past a park, several cross walks, a few stores. She had stopped at them on the way home once or twice to pick out an outfit to justify her cover, and gave the shop windows an appreciative gaze as she walked past them.

Just a month ago, she had been a perfectly happy teenage girl, and now she was a heart broken, lying, guilt wracked, girl who spent more time with a guy she could barely stand than her best friend. What was _happening _to her?

Her lip stung as she bit it hard. If she kept thinking these super depressing thoughts, she'd be in tears by the time she reached Tsuchiya's house. The thought of having him seeing her cry _again _forced her to tough up, and she squared her jaw, a stomp in her steps.

Minami skipped up the steps to the western house quickly, her lavender flats clacking against the ground. Feeling the pressure to keep it together surging through her limbs, she pushed the doorbell and exhaled deeply.

The door opened, and he blinked at her, dark blue eyes taking in her serious face.

"…. Are you alright?" God damn it. He always had been able to read her expression with ease. She silently cursed everything about him, his long lashes, the way he noticed the small things, his damn hobby that made her feel uncomfortable and flattered at the same time, the nosebleeds, his pauses before every little thing he said—_everything_.

"Fine." She hissed, slipping past him in the doorway. She expected him to follow her, with more annoying questions and concerns, but instead he was frozen at the entryway to the house.

Minami huffed, turning around."What is it, Tsu-" and her voice, quite simply, gave out.

Shimada Hazuki was standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

Her green eyes were starting to take on an uncanny resemblance to tennis balls. She tried to speak, but her voice was off somewhere distant.

"Onee-chan is a big fat _liar_," Hazuki said simply, walking into the house uninvited. "Onee-chan told Hazuki she was going to see Mizuki-chan, and you-" she pointed an accusatory finger at Tsuchiya, who flinched, "are NOT Mizuki-chan!"

"H-Hazuki, I can explain…" Minami said, her anger evaporated, one hand up.

"That you've been seeing a _boy _every Sunday? Mama and Papa will not be happy." Tsuchiya was shifting from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable to be stuck between a sibling feud.

She exhaled deeply. "It's not _like that. _I'm just helping him in Math." She opened up her bag, showing her the folders and text book inside. "See?"

Hazuki gave Tsuchiya a look over. "Hmmm. I believe you!" She announced. "But only because I don't think you'd stop liking Onii-chan for him. …No offence." She said, cheerily.

"…None taken."

"Alright, see? Completely innocent situation. Now you can go home and forget this ever happened." Minami said, pushing Hazuki toward the door.

"If you make me go home right now, I'll tell Mama and Papa!"

Minami could never remember hating her little sister as much as she did right now. "All we're going to do is go over math problems. You'll get really bored." The older sister tried desperately.

"Or you'll start kissing once I leave!" Apparently will power alone was not enough to stop a blush. She felt her face get hot and she could slap herself for it. "I thought you said you believed me?"

"On second thought," Hazuki said, staring thoughtfully at an increasingly uncomfortable Tsuchiya, "he _is _really cute."

Minami exhaled shakily. Today was going really really wrong.

"Tsuchiya? Do you mind if she stays?"

He shook his head and she marveled. If it had been her house, there was no way she'd agree, failing grade in Math or not.

"Hazuki, if you don't keep quiet during this _and _after, I promise to make your life miserable."

"Got it!" Her little sister grinned, saluting her. She was very obviously enjoying this.

Hazuki seemed to be getting bored, an hour in. She had taken to wondering the house, and Minami prayed she didn't find anything related to the boy's….. hobbies. At the least, her sister was convinced their relationship was a strictly teacher-student one, and had taken to Tsuchiya right away.

Said photographer was currently in the kitchen, messing with a tea kettle.

"… Would you like anything to drink?" He called after Hazuki.

"Juice!" She chirped happily from somewhere in the house. At this rate, she had seen more of the house then Minami had in three weeks.

He glanced over at her.

"Got any alcohol?" Mianmi said, jaw clenched.

"I heard that!" Hazuki called back.

"I was kidding!" God fobid if her sister decided to use that little tidbit as blackmail as well. "Tea is fine."

He nodded, and fixed the tea with swift, elegant hands. She caught herself staring and scowled. Her brain was really broken today.

Tsuchiya set the cup down in front of her and returned to his work, finishing the last of his homework. If there was anything good to be said about today, it was that Tsuchiya was more focused on his work with the younger girl around. He didn't even seem to care that Minami was wearing short shorts today.

….Well, no, he totally did, but at least he wasn't taking a million shots of her like he normally would.

"You did really well today," she murmured quietly as she checked his work. "All the problems are right. Me and the pest can get out of your house now."

He nodded.

"Hazuki!" Her sister padded into the living room like an obedient pet, pigtails bouncing. She picked up the juice glass and chugged it happily.

"We're leaving now." She said, brushing eraser shavings off her shorts.

"Awwwww…"

"I don't even want to hear it. Come on." The younger Shimada girl pouted, but walked over to the door anyway. "Bye, Kouta-nii san!" Minami groaned at the new nickname. "See you soon!" Yeah, no.

Minami walked to the door, her sister already bounding out of hearing distance.

She turned to Tsuchiya, who had followed her, looking down at the floor.

"I am so, so, so, _so _sorry about today." She bit her tongue.

"…It's fine."

"No, it really isn't. I'm sorry- I should of seen her following me, but I was so distracted…" she sighed, trailing off. "I'm sorry. I'm the worst tutor ever." She breathed deeply and dropped her voice quieter, and took a step toward him. "I think you should find someone else. I suck. Hazuki's going to be badgering me all the time now, and I've been such a mess lately, and I'm not even that good at teaching…" She looked at him, and the face he was giving made her shut up suddenly before her rant was finished.

He shook his head. "…You're a good teacher. And… it's embarrassing."

"Being bad at math? I don't know if you've noticed this, but most people are, Tsuchiya."

Their eyes locked and he reddened, looking away.

"Fine." She held her hands up. "I'll keep tutoring you. If you're _sure._" She squinted at him and he nodded quickly.

He hesitated for a second. "…Anyway… I like your sister." And he smiled, for the first time she could remember since taking him on as her math student.

"…Don't smile like that," she scoffed, pushing his chest with her hand playfully. "It's creepy. I don't want you trying to make a move on my poor innocent sister,"

She gave him a soft shove, and walked out the door, facing away from him as to conceal her own tiny smile.


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter, I am sorry to say, is late. I AM SORRY GUYS. To make it up for y'all, it is super giant! And thank you, as always, for the reviews~

* * *

Minami arrived at school in a good mood for the first time in weeks. Her sister has stayed silent the entire day before, though she gave her sister a couple not-so-innocent grins during dinner. Hazuki had promised to keep silent (for the time being) for her own nefarious little sister reasons. Minami had no reason not to believe that her sister was simply keeping blackmail for later, but it was better then nothing.

She stepped into the Class F morning early. There was no one there (if Class F had anything besides bad grades in common, it was the love of sleeping in) except Kinoshita (who waved half heartedly, yawning) and Tsuchiya.

She greeted Kinoshita and said a court, polite good morning to Tsuchiya. Who ignored her.

Of course, implying that Tsuchiya treated her any different from the rest of his… …models would be suspicious. In school, she didn't do as much as smile at him. Not that she'd _want _to or anything. She shook her head, and sat back, watching the photographer take shots of the sleepy androgynous teen.

It would be nice to talk to someone who wasn't pink haired or oblivious. Mizuki was sweet and kind, but sometimes she was so…boring. Not to mention that she hadn't figured out that Minami was annoyed when she constantly talked about how funny, nice, cute, etc her boyfriend was.

Ugh.

She continued debating with herself internally until she realized Tsuchiya was staring at her with an amused expression on his face. She glanced quickly at Kinoshita, who was lying down, facing away from them, but not asleep.

It was too tempting to sit next to him, knees almost touching, teasing him lightly about his math scores or talking about how annoying her sister could be…

But she sat frozen to her seat. The two of them had never been close, and, as Class F would assume, never would be. Anything more then friend-of-friend behavior would force her to reveal that Tsuchiya was failing math, or it would be very easy to assume…things.

Which was stupid, as she didn't even think she was over Aki yet, but that was teenagers for you. Uck.

So instead she watched him at what he did best- photography, catching Kinoshita at unique angles. She wondered why anyone would want pictures of the boy almost falling asleep, but he _was _popular…

For a second, Minami wondered if anyone ever requested photos of _her. _She felt a self conscious embarrassment heat her neck and ears, and shivered slightly. She would never be able to handle admirers and popularity with the effortless humble grace that Mizuki and Kinoshita pulled off. Miharu wigged her out enough already.

Tsuchiya glanced over at her, catching her gaze, and she looked away quickly. It wouldn't surprise her if he was a mind reader. …Actually, that would make sense.

Finally more class mates come pouring in and Minami finally found someone to talk to, Mizuki, namely. The day went normally until the end of school, walking through the halls, she sees Tsuchiya pass her and stop. With the flow of people in the crowded area, it's unnoticeable.

"…Good morning." It's muttered almost silently into her ear and she blinked, bewildered for a second, and then laughed, prepared to tease him about being late.

But he's already gone, slipped through the crowd silently and impossible to see, leaving Minami even more confused.

* * *

The moment Minami woke up on Sunday she knew it wouldn't be a study day. She was always the type of person to praise good weather, and the scene outside her window was absolutely fantastic.

Minami collected the darts from her board and stabbed them collectively across Akihisa's face, leaving even more pock marks across the photo. It would be absolutely ruined soon.

Good.

She dressed quickly and comfortably- a hoodie, a cute printed teeshirt and capris, part of her studying-approved section of her closet, and bounced down the stairs.

"Where to today, kiddo?" Her dad called out.

"Biking!" By using force, if she has to. Tsuchiya is so damn pale she'd be surprised if he normally spent his weekends outside, and today, she felt like change is necessary.

Hazuki glanced up from her cereal bowl, surprised. That was one awesome advantage to her plan- she doubted Hazuki would follow her if all she was doing was biking. Plus, her sister wouldn't be able to keep up, her bike being in the shop.

She walked outside and retrieved her bike, skip in her step, relishing the warm spring sun against her back. It was a fading pinkish red, and she hadn't used it for a couple months, but it was still an awesome bike.

Leaving the house earlier then expected, Minami realized that she was going to be way early. Not that there was ever a set time for the Sunday meetings, but it was generally 12 o'clock-ish. She'd leave the house with her stomach grumbling every week.

Spring was in full swing. Flowering plants and bright green leaves followed her as she rode expertly down the path.

Her good mood was amazing. And surprising. This week, she had actually felt somewhat, semi, kind of _whole. _ It was still easy to get upset- she hadn't been completely content with her best friend and crush this week, and didn't know if she ever would be- but it was getting less so.

She was fixing herself, and that was freaking _fantastic._ The weather helped. Part of her wanted to say that spending so much time with Tsuchiya helped, too, but the rest smashed that idea to bits.

Stupid, Minami chided herself. She was making no sense.

The bike squeaked loudly on the pavement as she breaked in front of the steps to the house. She pulled the bike up with her as she went, leaning it next to the door while she rang the doorbell.

Tsuchiya took longer then usual to answer the door, probably because she was about 40 minutes early. But he opened it nonetheless. Before he could say anything (if he had even planned on greeting her, which she somewhat doubted) she revealed the bike, moving it in front of her.

"No studying today!" She chirped. "Too pretty of a day. Where do you keep your bicycle?"

He squinted at her. "…I don't have one."

"How do you survive? Whatever, c'mon."

Tsuchiya raised his eyebrows ever so slightly and followed her to the side walk.

"You can ride on my handlebars," she said, remaking her plans without even a moment of apprehension. "My ass takes up too much room, otherwise you could sit on the seat. Sorry."

He gave her a look, expression saying everything.

"I do too have an ass." She threw a punch at his arm. She slid away and climbed up onto the bike, hands clenched on the sides of the handlebars.

Again, he hesitated. She was used to the pauses before everything he did- talk, walk, write—everything but snapping photos.

"…Is this safe?"

"No," Minami relented, "But I'll make sure we don't die. Please?" He glanced at her, dark eyes taking in her determined expression. Looked over the bike, the house behind him, back to her.

And nodded.

"Awesome. Get on."

"…I have to sit on your hands?"

"Just sit!"

The two of them biked triumphantly. It went off surprisingly well. Tsuchiya was light enough where Minami didn't feel the strain too badly. They caught looks wherever they rode, and she'd laugh and asked the other rider to wave to the people.

The day, as predicted, was stunning. The wheels of the pink-red bicycle rolled over gorgeous fresh leaves, clipped minutes ago, and the sky was a stunning blue with little wispy clouds scattered randomly above them. Flying down hills, despite the other passenger's protests, laughing loudly, forgetting everything…

She would never, ever, _ever _say this out loud, but it was the most fun she had had in months. And Tsuchiya would glance over his shoulder, smiling back at her before she'd order him to look forward to prevent their imminent deaths. So she'd risk a guess that he was having fun too, and that was something she could take pride in.

Making the stoic ninja pervert smile twice in about a week wasn't exactly resume worthy, but she was proud nonetheless.

They stopped for lunch eventually, Tsuchiya stretching as Minami carefully padlocked the bike in carefully in front of the restaurant. "Mmm, I'm ready for a break," she said, cracking her knuckles. He held the door open for her.

"… Me too."

"You didn't even do anything!" She scoffed, walking past him.

"…Balancing is difficult."

"Is not. Two." She said, nodding at the waitress in the front. She smiled at them and led them towards a table, and Minami had to forcefully push the idea that the two looked very much like a teenage couple on a date.

"Have you been here before?" She said, flipping through the menu delicately, leaning with her other hand. She caught his nod out of the corner of her eye.

"This was the first one I went to in Japan," Minami said, voice drifting off. "I was so nervous I would order wrong." She shivered from the memory of her anxiety.

Tsuchiya was glancing through pictures on his digital camera, menu pushed off to the side. He glanced up and nodded, to prove that he'd been listening. Minami rolled her eyes slightly.

"Those better be worth it. You almost fell off trying to take them." She held out her hand wordlessly and he dropped the small camera into it.

Clicking through the camera's memory with tiny buttons, Minami tried to repress her awe. The photos were gorgeous. A couple were blurry and out of focus, but most were stunningly clear. She bit her lip softly. He had an undeniable talent.

"These are so-" She started, admiration clear in her voice. And then she froze.

After a long succession of nature shots, Minami hadn't expected a photo of an actual person. Especially her.

Tsuchiya had photographed her unprepared, probably turning around for a half second despite her many warnings against it. Her face was caught in a laugh, ponytail flying out behind her. Minami felt a blush creeping up her neck. She couldn't even try to guess how many times he had taken her picture- wholesome or otherwise- but there was something different about this one.

Real. Not a hesitant pose when she was wearing a cute outfit, or a photo she'd fervently wish would be destroyed for all eternity, but something that expressed _her._

"They're fantastic." She said, softly, handing the camera back. "Thank you. Though I'd appreciate a little warning next time. I look crazy here," she grinned. Not that Tsuchiya normally warned people. It was a more click now, sell photos later kind of thing.

"…Thank you."

Small chat (mostly initiated by Minami, but Tsuchiya was speaking more then he normally did, at least) filled the silences between waiting to order and then receiving said order.

Minami had been glanced down, intensely invested in her food when things went wrong.

"…Shimada."

She looked up; it was obscenely rare that he actually referred to her by her name. Which was making her worried. Her ponytail swished as she glanced over in the direction Tsuchiya was staring.

Her stomach dropped, causing her appetite to vanish.

Akihisa was heading towards their table, looking confused. Dread filled her as he walked purposely towards their table, expression confused.

"…Voyeur? Why are you with _her_?" He gestured vaguely towards Minami, whose face was set in a deep scowl. She could almost hear the gears slowly clicking into place in his head.

"Uh… We didn't go here together." She twirled her fork nervously. She was not the most awesome liar ever. She looked desperately at Tsuchiya for back up.

"You didn't?" The brunette was having trouble following this.

"… Her table was bad." Tsuchiya attempted. Oh God, he was even worse then her. Was that even a real sentence?

"There was a rat!" She blurted, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"…With scary teeth."

"I screamed." Minami was reminded of a one sentence at a time story game she'd play in elementary school.

"…And I offered to let her sit here." Across from him, Minami tried not to roll her eyes.

"And all the other tables were full," at least that much was true, "and he offered to pay. And that's why I'm sitting with this stupid pervert." She scoffed. Belief dawned on Aki's face, and Minami was amazed (not for the first time) by his stupidity.

"That makes sense." He said, nodding deeply. "I'm here with Mizuki." He gestured vaguely to the back of the restaurant. "Actually, I'll go get her!"

Crap. Aki might buy a story about a rat, but his Class A worthy girlfriend would not.

"No, wait, don't. I, um…" Minami stumbled on her words.

"… Bought her birthday present. She might see it." She turned and openly gaped at him for half a second. How did he know that he best friend's birthday was in two weeks? She wiped the surprise from her face and turned to Aki.

"Yeah. So don't tell her we're here, okay?"

Akihisa nodded seriously. "I won't... But I should go now. Bye, Voyeur."

Minami glared at him.

"…Oh, right. Bye, Minami."

As soon he was out of earshot, Minami dropped her head into her hands and sighed loudly.

"I can't believe I like—_liked_ him." She groaned.

"…Liked?" Tsuchiya leaned forward, surprised.  
"Huh? Yeah. I think that incident pretty much crushed that crush to bits." She shuddered, saying the words for herself. "So _stupid._"

"...Right." He nodded, as if he completely understood, but that didn't explain the strange little half smile on his face for just a second.

"I'm going to take off my anger and depression with dessert. Don't even say anything." She pointed a fork at him, and then finished her lunch with great determination.

"That cake looks amazing." Minami said, spearing a piece of angel food cake.

Tsuchiya delicately pushed a small bite of chocolate cake around the raspberry sauce on his plate, before pushing the cake across the table. "…It's my mother's favorite."

Minami grinned and took a bit. "Thanks. What does your mom do, anyway?"

"…Fashion designer."

"Oh, wow." She looked him over, as if the revelation had changed him somehow. "Famous?" He nodded. "What's her name?" As she couldn't think of any Something-Tsuchiya brands.

"…Secret."

"Jerk!" She kicked him lightly under the table. "What's your dad's job?"

His face fell automatically and she realized she had said the wrong thing. She was already anticipating the answer before he said it.

"…He's dead."

"I'm so sorry." She said quickly, face flushing. "I didn't… I mean… I'm so sorry."

"…It's nothing. …It was a long time ago, I mean."

They finished their cakes in silence, Minami mulling guiltily over her mistake. It would explain a lot. Not to mention give his mother a reason not to be around—famous fashion designers didn't exactly stick around to make their teenage sons' breakfasts.

The two of them walked about to his house (Minami was way too tired to attempt any more biking, and Tsuchiya didn't object) and she told him that he was most certainly getting double lessons next week to make up for today.

But something about the way he smiled today- or at least before she had messed everything up by mentioning his parents- made her feel like it was completely worth it.


	6. Chapter 6

WELP. Late chapter is late. I am so, so, _so _sorry guys. I was playing Pokemon all week. Cough. (I beat it a couple hours ago, at least!) I hope the release of the new OVA made the wait less annoying? And if you haven't, for some reason, seen the OVA yet, **DO IT NOW.**

I should note one particular event in the OVA (involving Akihisa, to avoid spoilers) does happen in this fic's canon, but in a different context, to avoid plot holes. Mostly because I have no idea how the second OVA will end. Hurr.

OH, one more thing (longest author's note ever) the dub cast has been released! Check it out- I'm super excited!

* * *

Why was Minami pretending to be a boy? This was a question she asked herself very seriously, as she sat on a bench, adjusting a short wig pinned painfully into her scalp.

She really hated bets.

Three days ago Kinoshita had burst into the Class F Class room, in an obvious state of distress.

Minami glanced up, eyes widening. His hair was in disarray, hair clips missing, shirt almost falling off. Tsuchiya, of course, start snapping photos automatically.

"H-help me!"

She blinked wildly, standing up to help… whatever he had problems with, when two more people burst in. She recognized them from the drama club.

"Come back, Kinoshita-san!" Pales arms reached around for him accompanied by giggles. "We have pretty clothes for you!"

Oh dear. Minami stood up, glancing around to see what the other students were doing- but Tsuchiya was taking photos, and Akihisa and the other classmates were too busy bleeding on the floor to do anything.

Men.

She stomped over to the doorway.

"Hey, stop harassing him." Kinoshita glanced at her gratefully.

"Oh c'mon, Shimada-san," said the shorter one. Minami had no idea what her name was, but she seemed to know her, which was creepy. "We're just helping him becoming a better actor!"

"Well, he's obviously uncomfortable. Just lay off, okay?"

The boys in the class seemed to be recovering from the shock.

"Why?" Akihisa said, wiping at his nose. "He makes a better girl then you do!"

Minami shot him a death glare, and almost snarked at him, but Kinoshita spoke up instead.

"It's not easy, you know! Pretending to be a girl all the time…" He adjusted his shirt straps, looking sheepish.

"Yeah, but you look so good!" Aki chirped cheerfully. "And plus, pretending to be a girl is _fun._"

Minami sighed, rubbing her temples. "Lets just agree to be the gender we're more comfortable with, okay? Plus, you make a terrible girl, Akihisa," She added, thinking of his various crossdressing adventures. "Your falsetto was horrible."

"Oh yeah?" he stood up, getting closer to her. Her pulse raised, still. She forced herself to ignore it. "I bet I could fool people!"

"Guys, maybe, but girls are too smart for that!"

"Bet _you _couldn't pass for a guy, mannish chest or not!" Minami grabbed him in a headlock.

"Take it back!" She huffed, tightening her grip.

"Never!" His face was getting red, but he still turned to glare at her.

"Take it back or I'll break your neck!"

"I'll take it back if you win the bet!" Minami hesitated, grip getting lax. He wiggled out of her arms, rubbing his neck. The drama club members were watching this, entertained. At least they had let go of Kinoshita.

She stared at him for a long moment, thinking. "…Fine. But only if you and Sakamoto dress up too!"

"Done!" He replied automatically.

Sakamato looked up from the other side of the classroom "Why are you getting me into this!"

"I'll do it too!" Mizuki said cheerfully. Minami hadn't heard her walk in.

Everyone's gaze simultaneously fell to Tsuchiya.

"…. No."

"C'mon, Voyeur…"

"…...No."

"It'll be fun!"

"… No."  
"I'll pay you!"

"…_No_."

Minami was torn between giving him a break and wondering what he'd look like in girl's clothes. She gave into the latter. Walking behind Akihisa, she mouthed "Please?"

He stared at her for a longer while, giving a pained look that showed he wasn't very happy with her.

"… Fine."

"That's settled, then." Mizuki said cheerfully, clapping her hands together. She looked way too gleeful at the idea of her boyfriend in women's clothing. "Kinoshita-kun doesn't have to do anything."

Kinoshita himself was looking more and more unsettled by this conversation.

"The money thing isn't a bad idea, actually." Sakamoto looked up. "We could all put in some pocket money. The winner gets it."

"So, wait, can only me and Minami-sama win, or what?"

"Whoever convinces the most people," his best friend replied, business face on.

Minami was beginning to regret agreeing to this.

"We'll have a system." Minami tell the redhead was slowly calculating the entire plan to perfection in his head. "We'll all go somewhere public on Saturday. If you catch a lot of strange looks, or get asked about your gender, you're out. The last one standing is the winner."

"Sounds perfect! I'll hold the money." Aki sounded excited. Sakamoto shot a look at him.

"No, Kinoshita will, as he's neutral. And not likely to steal it."

"…I guess. I can help you guys with the clothes, and how to act…"

The girls from drama brightened, exclaiming, "You can borrow our costumes!"

They all (even the drama girls) spent the rest of lunch plotting out the plan for Saturday. Tsuchiya sent her hate looks the entire time, to which she reacted with a tiny smile. He _did _agree to it.

How hard could acting like a boy be?

* * *

Minami spent the rest of the week 'studying', paying attention to how boys acted, walked, talked, etc. It was not exactly the piece of cake she assumed it'd be. Boys were just so…boyish. Unorganized, messy, etc. At least she'd only have to pretend for an hour or two. She didn't know how guys put up with it their _entire lives_.

She had secured a ink black wig from the drama club, as well as figure-hiding clothes. Not like she really needed them, she thought gloomily.

Her anxiety got worse over the next few days, until she could barely sleep on Friday night. She was going to look like an idiot.

But she was not going to let Aki win. No way.

As her parents would get a little suspicious if she left the house in boys clothes and a wig, that morning she shoved everything into a bag and headed out the door on Saturday as if nothing had changed. Then she ducked into a public bathroom.

It was the girls room, and every apprehensive thought she had about people not buying her transformation was shattered when she shut the stall door behind her to be greeted with embarrassed shrieks and "GET OUT!"s. Minami was pushed out the door before she could even glance at a mirror.

….Damn. She was really hoping it was the wig and make up.

She was the first one there, and she practiced sitting like a guy, legs apart, leaning back. It was strangely comfortable.

Minami monitored the people milling around her as she waited. No one seemed to be taking any notice of her. The hardest part of convincing people would be the voice.

A scary thought fell over her. What if a girl tried to ask her out or something? Oh god.

She did a look over the girls in the area. She flinched as she noticed one approaching. She was shy-looking- cute, with chin length purple-blue hair topped with a red bow.

The girl brushed her bangs out of her eyes, looking annoyed, and Minami got a better look at her face. There was something off about it. And her eyes…

"T-T-Tsuchiya?" She shuttered, completely thrown. She—he? hung his head silently, and then looked up through her/his bangs to glare at her.

….Yep, definitely Tsuchiya.

"I didn't recognize you." She said in a hushed whisper, not using her boy voice yet. "You look so…"

"…. Don't say it."

"Cute." She said, just to see his face. This was way too much fun.

He sat by her silently, staring off in the distance.

"Don't pout. You could definitely win this thing."

He ignored her.

The rest of the group arrived shortly after, with Kinoshita being the only one in his regular street clothes. Akihisa had resumed his look from previous shenanigans, passing for the new gender easily, playing with the tips of his hair with a cocky smile on his face. Mizuki and Sakamoto… not so much.

Mizuki had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, as no wig in the drama department could fit over her poofy head of hair. Her body looked weird too- cleverly chosen clothing had reduced her bust considerably, but made her torso look too small and hips too big. She wasn't convincing anyone today. Except maybe the blind.

Sakamoto was worse. Much worse. It hurt to look at him. His arms were crossed, expression angry as all hell. His long red wig was slightly off center, blush looking strange on his obviously masculine cheek bones.

He looked like a drag queen. A very unattractive one, at that.

Minami held back her laugh (it wasn't very manly to giggle) and stood up to greet Mizuki.

"Minami-chan? You look-" She froze, coughing and lowering her voice several octaves. "I mean, uh… you look good, dude. Peace." She thumped her chest.

Minami again repressed a laugh. "Yeah. You too." She replied, using her own, well practiced masculine voice.

"My chest hurts so much." She said, still keeping the guy voice. "Ow."

"Oh, you bound it?"

"Yeah. _Ouch_."

"I didn't have to." She coughed, looking at the ground. "It's… really embarrassing… I'm not even wearing a bra." She blurted it without thinking, and came to her senses a second later. She did a quick check over her shoulder, hoping, praying.

Tsuchiya had overheard. Of course. And now was close to death from blood loss. Minami crossed her chest self consciously, chiding herself to be so stupid. And Tsuchiya for being such a damn _pervert_.

Kinoshita looked over at her and shook his head.

"You shouldn't put your arms over your chest—it's very feminine." He said teacherly. She lowered them to her sides apprehensively.

"It's _his _fault…" She said, glaring over in the photographer's direction.

Kinoshita sighed. "Tsuchiya, can you clean up your nose and stop harassing Shimada? Thank you." He adjusted Akihisa's posture and wig, but just shook his head at Sakamoto.

"…Guess we're as ready as we'll ever be."

They walked out in a group. The first thing she noticed was all the girls _staring _at her. She had assumed she was doomed, disqualified in seconds, until she realized they were checking her out.

Oh dear god. Minami wish she could wear a sign that said "stop staring at me like that, I'm a _girl!_" Could they seriously not figure her out?

She took a glance into a mirror in a clothing store, early on, dragging Mizuki by the arm. It was the first time she had seen herself as a guy.

…She was hot. Embarrassingly so. The ink black hair went so well with her bright green eyes, for the first time in her life, she was tempted to dye it permanently.

Mizuki, however, was laughing at her appearance. "Oh my gosh! Look at me!" She giggled, holding her sides. "I h-h-hope someone doesn't hear me," she laughed, voice disorted with it, "but- oh gosh. I look ridiculous!"

"At least you look like a girl." She muttered.

"Cheer up, Minami-chan! You make such a cute boy!"

"Do you really think so?" Her best friend nodded. "Then I can win this, right?"

Mizuki hesitated, glancing over to where the boys were. They were looking at lingerie. Jesus.

"…Akihisa is really cute like that..." She said dreamily.

"Oh, whatever." Minami replied, fixing her hair. "I'll beat him." A determined boy glared back at her in the mirror.

Sakamoto was the first out, predictably. He accepted Kinoshita's statement with a "finally" and a dash to go back and change. That was also a rule- mostly because if you could tell someone was pretending to be the opposite gender, you'd look twice at their friends, right?

Mizuki followed soon after she was called "miss" by a friendly store assistant, and she excepted it with a smile. She changed, keeping the clothes and hair, but her bust increased by several sizes, of course.

So it was only Minami, Tsuchiya, and Aki in a matter of about half an hour. They took a break for lunch after walking circles around the mall with no notice. All three of them were way too good at this

Minami could tell this was driving Tsuchiya crazy. He wasn't even allowed to take photos, so his hands twitched endlessly at his side as they sat down at an expensive little restaurant. Mizuki offered to treat them, as the loser.

She scooted in next to Tsuchiya, the rest of the group chattering away too loudly to notice (Aki, in particular, was proudly boasting about how awesome he was in his horrible high voice.)

"So," she said casually, lowered voice coming more naturally as the day went on. "…How many times have you been asked out today?" She teased. She knew she wasn't too happy with her own number.

He held up six fingers. His approach was to, instead of sounding like a complete nut like Aki, simply not talk.

She laughed, a deep chuckle that felt awkward in her throat. "More times then you've been asked out… normally, I assume?"

He shot her yet another glare and returned to his food.

"I'm just kidding." She said softly. "Thank you for doing this. It's fun, sort of, right? Messing with peoples heads."

Tsuchiya looked up at her.

"Well, yeah, not having your camera must suck, but otherwise…" she trailed off, realizing it must sound like she was talking to herself. "…Yeah."

He gave her a long stare, finally setting on a small smile. She grinned back instinctively.

"Do you forgive me now?"

But he just flushed and turned away without a word. Guess it couldn't be that easy. She'd work on earning his forgiveness after this was over.

Maybe Aki wasn't her big competitor after all. There was something about the silence (and blush!) that screamed 'cute, shy girl!" and wiped out any doubts. But she could talk like a boy, punch like a boy, and, as depressed as it made her, look like a boy.

The game was on.


	7. Chapter 7

One day, my chapters will not be ridiculously late, and I will no longer feel incredibly guilty.

Also, I apologize if this chapter seems off, but my beta abandoned me this week (everyone, boo at her! BOOOOOO.) and thus I have no comprehension/plot editor. ALL HER FAULT.

* * *

There was a certain entitlement to being a boy.

Or maybe it was just Minami.

She walked and grinned and talked and chewed gum with a confidence she hadn't had since the bonfire. Maybe it was the extra locks tangling down Aki's back throwing her off- 'he' wasn't there to curb her ego, and thus, she walked around like she owned the god damn town.

Of course, she had no plans to ever be a man after she won this. Except maybe during Halloween. But there was no harm in keeping the confidence, right?

Akihisa pretty much acted like himself but a tad more feminine (seriously, had no males in the area noticed him _burping the alphabet?_) while Tsuchiya just seemed so much more… noticeable. He blurred into the background most of the time, with his neutral expressions and dark day clothes. Not to mention the fact he tended to be on the floor more often than not.

Of course, this past month her change in attitude towards him was pretty damn drastic, going from the emotional equivalent of putting her fingers in her ears and singing to…whatever they were now.

But now other people took _notice _of him. Well. Her. He caught stares wherever the motley group walked, making him shrink back self consciously, which just made people stare more… Even Aki was paying more attention to him then usual.., which was sort of sad, as they were supposed to be really close friends.…And Tsuchiya didn't have many of those in the first place.

She shook herself from her sappy thoughts- Tsuchiya was an enemy now. There was no time for a pity party.

"Oi!" She said, spinning around. "Hurry up, you two!"

"Coming, senpai~!" Akihisa said cheerfully, voice painfully grating on her ears. Seriously, was _no one _suspicious?

Apparently, all people in the area were complete idiots.

…Maybe it was time to give them a little help.

She fell back, walking next to Aki, Tsuchiya slightly behind the two.

"You're doing decently." She said carefully, voice and eyes lowered. "But you're ignoring almost all of the guys. I haven't seen you talk to a single one. Not that impressive." She scoffed, shaking her head so that her bangs fell across her face.

"I could!" Aki chirped, staring at her and pouting defiantly.

"Oh yeah?" She rolled her shoulders, glancing over at a guy about their age around the area. He was closer to the non-crossdressing students then the three still in, but the sleezey, 'I-am-so-damn-amazing' expression that Minami hated was still easily visible. "Try him," she offered, pointing a thumb towards the teenager.

"Fine!" He huffed, pettitcoats of his dress flaring up as he walked away. Minami followed him, surprised at his perfect walk, hips sashaying and legs together, steps tiny. He was too damn good at this. Thus, her attempts to…up her odds. It wasn't cheating if there were no rules against it, right?

She turned to Tsuchiya next to her, whose eyebrows were raised in a silent question.

"You'll see." She said cryptically, crossing her arms.

She rejoined the others, in an unnoticeable but still in hearing range radius of the conversation. Aki had walked up, hands on his hips, smile confident, and introduced himself as "Aki-chan." The guy had bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Mizuki's expression was becoming darker by the second.

"Oh, wow, you're arms are so _strong." _'Aki-chan' squeaked happily.

"Yeah, I know, babe." Minami rolled her eyes. Is this guy for _real?_ Of course, his for real ness was essential for her plan…

…Her plan of absolutely winging it, but uh, still. She sat and watched the awkward flirting longer, watching everyone's expressions.

Sakamoto seemed to be storing this for future blackmail. Kinoshita was apparently experiencing as much second hand embarrassment as Minami was. And Tsuchiya just looked really, really confused.

…Mizuki was starting to scare her.

The conversation was going on for long enough that she was worried that they'd move out of her range, but Guy-Getting-Used dropped a line that sped things up rather quickly.

"Why do keep glancing over there?" GGU twirled a strand of Aki's hair, looking over in the rest of the group, who all feigned innocence (Kinoshita even started whistling). Except Mizuki, who was shooting daggers with her eyeballs at both of them.

"Uhhhh." Aki said, eloquently.

"None of the guys are your boyfriend, right?"

"Of course not!" Aki replied, squeak of his voice probably carrying to various countries around the globe.

"So they won't mind," he dropped the strand of hair, "if I do this?"

Minami realized what was about to happen before it did, and just managed to cover her mouth to muffle her scream of surprise.

… GGU had kissed Aki. _On the mouth. _

…. Not as planned, to say the least.

Aki's shoulder rose, hands spread, pupils pinpricks. But he didn't push away.…Was he that into winning the contest, or, uh…

Neither option was very welcoming in Minami's mind.

Whichever the one, Mizuki was a jealous girlfriend, which is always a bad thing to have when you are kissing random boys off the street. She sped to the scene of the crime with an agility Minami would never associate with her, and quite literally pushed GGU off Aki.

"_He's _my boyfriend," she said cheerfully, "_So back off._" Her voice kept the cheerful exterior, but there was a terrifying- almost demonic- quality to it underneath.

"A- he's- you mean he's a _dude_? B-b-but I- AUGH." His face had started to turn green, and he began wiping his mouth with his sleeve vigorously. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He shot the question at Akihisa viciously.

Aki shrugged. "Bet." Mizuki was grasping his arm, nails digging into the skin.

"Well, you're messed up in the head, man. I kissed a _dude,"_ he mumbled himself. Minami would assume GGU would of punched Aki in the face, if not for the fact he was in shock. And that Mizuki was sort of eminating a dark vibe of pure evil.

As the guy left, Mizuki spoke in a voice too quiet for anyone to catch. Then she walked away with Aki, still gripping to his arm.

…Minami could guess that he was in for an interesting conversation.

"Akihisa's out." Sakamoto said bluntly, and there was a double meaning there that Minami wasn't sure was intentional.

Not the _exact _plan she had, but it worked…

"So it's just Shimada-san and Tsuchiya now—"

"I surrender." It was the quickest response she had ever heard Tsuchiya give. Not to mention it was the first time he had talked today.

"Wait, seriously?" Sakmoto's raised his eyebrows

"….. She scares me." He said, glancing over at Minami, who just laughed. Seriously?

"…I can't to believe she did that to Akihisa-kun…" Kinoshita mumbled in disbelief.

"Hey, I didn't _plan _for- oh, whatever." She said, returning to her girl voice uneasily.

"Well. Congratulations, Shimada-san." Sakamoto reached around to his pocket, grabbing a small black chain purse that screamed 'stolen from Kirishima'. Minami grinned as she took it from him.

"Thank you very much." She said happily, pocketing the money without looking at it.

Of course, the shopping spree that came afterwards made the adventure today worth it all on it's own, but Aki's embarrassment in front of his friends (and girlfriend) and, of course, the fact she _kicked everyone's ass _were just some cherries on top.

* * *

The next two weeks were rather uneventful as fortnights go, with two crammed Sunday study sessions with hardly any conversation outside of "you did this equation wrong." Weekdays were even more dull. While it was true that Mizuki and Aki had been on the rocks since that eventful Saturday, Minami found herself… not really caring. The strongest emotion she had about the whole fiasco was actually pity for her best friend having to possibly deal with a break up, which was…surprisingly selfless for her.

She didn't really get this change in feelings, but she wasn't really going to object it either. So she just pulled through the days, enjoying the monotony for once. It helped that she has way more spending money on herself than usual.

It seemed the more comfortable was with a schedule and boringness, the more likely something would come along and completely explode the situation.

That something tended to come in the form of her little sister.

It had been a Friday evening, late, but not late enough for her parents to be home yet. Over night shifts on weekdays meant the only time she and Hazuki saw their parents was early in the morning (when they weren't sleeping in, that is) and Saturdays and Sundays. Minami had been a relatively good sister today, and was currently sorting through Hazuki's collection of knee socks (intensely impressive for someone her age) for the laundry.

And then the phone rang.

Minami sighed. "Get that for me, okay, Hazuki?"

"Okaaay~"

This wouldn't really be much of a concern, until Minami realized her sister never told her who called, ten minutes later. Which wasn't _too _unusual. Back to sorting. Light, light, dark, dark… how was Hazuki's wardrobe bigger then hers?

Well, she didn't have to wear a uniform, so that made sense, sort of— wait.

She blinked, listening closer.

….Hazuki was talking to someone on the phone.

Again, not much of a concern (friend from school, or something like that, she told herself.)

And then she caught the words "Kouta-nii", and Minami was running through the house on socked feet as fast she could.

"Hazuki, give me the phone!" She demanded, sliding into the kitchen.

"Oh, there she is!" Hazuki said cheerfully into the phone, and "Say hi, onee-chan!" to her sister.

"Give me the phone, now!"

"That's rather rude," her little sister pouted, still holding the phone tightly. "I mean, Kouta-kun went to the effort to calling me," sometimes Minami wondered if her sister seriously thought the world revolved around her, "and you're just yelling at the phone from me?"

Minami took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. There was only one way to handle her sister when she was being a huge brat. "I wasn't yelling."

"It was pretty close to yelling to me." She paused, holding the phone closer to her ear. "Nii-san agrees."

"Hazuki, can I _please _have the phone?" She ignored the comment, stepping closer towards her sibling. Hazuki side stepped away from her.

"I dunno," she said, "I mean, you get to talk to him _every week_, but it's been like… a month for me! How is that fair?"

"Hazuki…" There were walking circles around the kitchen now, Hazuki hold the phone on speaker as they avoided counters and other obstacles. Minami didn't dare to pick up her speed- anything besides patient and kind asking tended to make Hazuki absolutely refuse to cooperate.

"I mean, if mom and dad heard that a boy was calling the house for me, no big deal, right? But for you, the dating-age older sister…"

"You wouldn't." Minami froze.

"Well, I don't _have_ to, but…" She grinned, index finger over her mouth in a "ssshh" motion.

Minami groaned in anger. "Why are you such a-" She suddenly switched to German, remembering there was someone overhearing this conversation, and proceeded on lecturing (and insulting) her sister loudly and angrily.

Hazuki replied back, also in German, until on-the-phone Tsuchiya was stuck in a sibling screaming match in a language he didn't understand. She felt sorry for him. And also wondered why he didn't just hang up yet.

"Fine!" She finally said. 'You get to talk to him for half an hour! And then you give the phone to me, no exceptions, and _no telling our parents._"

Hazuki grinned. "Yay! Thank you! You're the best sister eeeveer~"

"I hate you." Minami muttered, sulking off to her room and ignoring the unfinished laundry.

Having a younger sister _sucked._

Now she was left with half an hour to wonder why the hell Tsuchiya was calling her.

She sat in bed, unmoving and refusing to return the laundry, throwing the occasional dart right into Aki's head.

Eventually the door opened and Hazuki stepped inside, innocent smile on her face.

"Here you go." She said sweetly, handing the phone to her sister. Minami didn't even give her a "thank you."

"Shoo."

"Okay!" She said, skipping out the door, happy as can be. Minami had no doubt that she planned to listen outside the room.

She sighed as she picked up the phone. "Sorry." She muttered automatically.

"…It's nothing."

Minami rubbed her temples. "What did you two talk about, anyway?" Pause.

"School."

"That's it?" Another pause.

"Mostly."

"So why are you calling, exactly…?" She ventured, lying back on her bed.

"…I have to cancel studying tomorrow." Thaaat would make sense.

"Oh. Alright, then, that's fine." She paused, about to leave it at that, but an extra word was blurted out anyways. 'Why?"  
"… … I have a photography club tomorrow. It got moved." A club he conveniently never told her about, but it didn't really matter anyways.

"Well, have fun, I guess…. And one more question: how did you get this number?" She frowned into the phone, wondering if her home phone number was one of those things on his secret files he had.

"…. The phonebook?" Tsuchiya said doubtfully. …Jumping to conclusions was probably a really bad habit. She imagined his expression, confused, eyebrows furrowed at her stupidity.

"Oh. Right. Well, next time, just call my cell, okay? So you don't have to deal with the home phone police here."

He paused for a long while, and she imagined him nodding before remembering he was on the phone, which made her smile wider then she'd like to admit. "… Alright."

They exchanged numbers, Minami scrawling his on a scrap piece of paper. There was an excessively long pause, that, if it had been anyone else, she'd have assumed they hung up, but she waited patiently, twirling a pencil in her right hand while she waited for him to speak up.

"….Shimada?"

"Mhm?"

"….Do you… want to go? … To the club." The photographer added.

She blinked, surprised. "Sure, why not?" Without studying, her Sundays were excessively dull. "Meet at your house, then?"

"…Yeah." She could almost catch a smile in his voice.

"See you tomorrow." She replied, feeling weirdly excited at the prospect at seeing what he did outside of school. And, for that matter, the people he spent time with…What kind of people were in photography clubs, anyways…?

He hung up silently, and, being the master of timing, Hazuki burst in a second later, smiling.

"Oooooh, the photography club? Sounds like a daaate~", she said, sing-songedly, and then giggled.

In response, her sister threw a pillow at her.


	8. Chapter 8

Latest chapter yet. Ugh, I'm so sorry guys. I just had trouble getting this perfect- I might go back and edit it later, as a warning. It is also the longest chapter yet, though, so hoorah!

As a contrast from the lacking-in-Kouta and mostly group interaction chapters, this one is almost entirely photographer and tsundere interaction. You're welcome. And again, very sorry about the lateness.

...Also I wasn't the only one who noticed him nodding when Hideyoshi was like "one sided love sucks" in the second OVA, right? I'M JUST SAYING.

* * *

There was something about the concept of meeting new people that made you more self conscious about what you wore. Minami, for once, ignored her study clothes and picked out a cute light blue mini skirt and a cute top. She smiled at herself in the mirror. Who knows, maybe there were some cute guys at the club?

….Alright, that was probably too much to hope, but whatever, it was an excuse to wear nice clothes. She sat at her bed, lacing up her sneakers tight and fighting back a yawn. She had gone to bed later than usual, finishing her homework. Generally, it was finished on Sunday while monitoring Tsuchiya's work, but she had a feeling the photography club wasn't going to be happy with her taking out her Japanese homework in the middle of meeting.

Carefully avoiding the sleeping in Hazuki, Minami stepped into the empty kitchen, catching her mother at the table.

"Goodbye dear." She said, without looking up from her coffee.

Minami smiled. "Are you making fun of me?" She looked up, pink-red hair falling into her eyes, with the same tired expression she always wore on weekends.

"Of course not." Her mother smiled warmly, sipping her coffee.

"You're up early," her daughter said, pushing a piece of bread into the toaster.

"Was hoping to catch my child before she ran off to do god knows what."

Minami rolled her eyes.

"Kidding, sweetheart. That outfit is cute. Where did you get it?"

Oh, crap. She had bought it with her reward money. "Uh. Internet sale?"

"Mm. Makes sense." She said, words muffled by coffee cup.

They sat for a little while, small chatting about random things while Minami nibbled on her toast, appetite dying a little every time her mother retold a story from the hospital.

"Hey," she said suddenly. "It was Mizuki-san's birthday recently, right?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. But she just stayed at home. I just gave her her present at school."

"That's strange. You'd expect a big birthday party, with parents as rich as hers." This was one of the things her mother did. Casually mention everyone's money status, like she had secret files on all the people she knew.

"She's been… a little off lately. She and Akihisa have been having some… problems."

"That's good for you." She said softly. "Right?"

"…. I don't even know anymore." Minami sighed deeply. "I don't… really think I like him any more." She had always felt uncomfortable, talking about him with her mother, but there was something… final about the discussion.

Like it really was over.

"That's good. He didn't deserve you anyways."

"Definitely." Minami glanced up at the kitchen clock. "Oh, crap." She blurted, standing up suddenly, chair almost falling over. "Gotta go." She sped towards the back door in the kitchen, swallowing the last of her toast.

"Have fun."

"I will." She grinned, closing the door behind her.

"Sorry if I'm late," Minami breathed, having slowed her pace from almost-sprinting. "Was talking to my mo- Tsuchiya."

His eyes had gone all glazed over. Minami stood in front of him on the sidewalk, waving her hand in front of his face. "You there?"

He was staring intently at her, blood starting to poor from his poor, abused nose. She did a self conscious spin, looking at her clothes. Nothing was showing. …Did she really look that cute today?

She couldn't hide her grin, and had to look away to hide it when she grabbed his arm. "Stop gaping, we have somewhere to go."

"….Right." Tsuchiya looked away, staring ahead. But as they walked together, his gaze always managed to fall back to her.

He had, at least, finally forgiven her for the crossdressing incident. That or had completely forgotten about it.

They kept in silence, as usual, and Minami realized that they were walking to a local park she knew. Hmm.

Tsuchiya had a camera hanging around his neck, a bag on his back. Otherwise, he was dressed normally. She had half expected him to pack all his cameras.

…Which, come to think about it, would be _a lot._

He stopped short before the entered the park, hesitating at the gate.

"…They're a little weird."

"I kinda assumed that. C'mon, lets go." He gave her a long look, as if giving her the opportunity to change her mind. Then he shook his head and strode forward, camera falling against his chest as he walked.

He guided her silently to a section of benches in the approximate middle of the park, and she suddenly realized where all the noise was coming from. Seriously, the group of teenagers huddled around the table (sitting normally, lying on the ground, walking _on_ the tables…the variations were endless) were giving the children in the park a run for their money.

"Tsuchiya-kun!" A voice called, and several echoed it, including a couple "Voyeur"s. Apparently the nickname followed him outside school.

"You brought a guest?"

"Who's she?"

"Hey, I recognize her." A girl with long, dark hair and cherry red headphones propped herself up onto one of the tables. She didn't recognize her from school, so then how… "From his photos."

Minami turned around and shot an icy cold glare at Tsuchiya.

"…Not _those_ ones."

Headphones girl smiled at the exchange, but didn't mention it. "Don't know your name, though. Mind introducing yourself?"

Minami blinked, surprised. "Um. Sure." She stood back, taking in the group. There were about fifteen or so around the tables, all about high school age. "I'm Shimada Minami. I'm actually from Germany, but I moved here a year ago. I know Tsuchiya from school." She took in the blank stares, and suddenly felt the need to clarify. "We're friends." With a small shiver, she realized it was the first time she had said it out loud.

… The scary part was that it was true.

She didn't dare look over at Tsuchiya. "…I, uh… came here because I was bored, I guess?" She felt awkward. "I'm honored to meet you all, though."

"Formal." Headphones approved, nodding. "Got a camera?"

"Uh."

"You brought a girl here who didn't have a camera?" Called out a boy with larger then life hair. Minami blushed self consciously, but apparently she had no need to.

"Shut up, Adachi." Replied at least five different voices, owners all turning to glare at the boy. He sunk back.

"She can just stick with Tsuchiya-san," Headphones said, giving Adachi a dirty look. She turned to Minami. "Ignore him, he's just rude by nature." She paused, glancing around the group. "I think that's everyone? Let's go, then."

Girls delicately leaped off the tables, pulling down heavy camera bags with them, a few toting expensive looking purses as well.

Minami herself strongly curious about why they were all walking towards a more nature-y section in the park, instead of staying at the benches. …Did this club having meetings in trees, or something?

"We're just taking nature shots today," Headphones said, joining her. She had a thick, old looking modeling hanging from her neck now on a cute, polka dot strap. "Tsuchiya-san can explain it to you more."

She smiled, glancing back at the blue haired photographer, comparing shots with a few of his club members. "He's not really the explaining type."

Headphones laughed, surprised. "I think we get three words out of him per meeting. Maybe you can help with that," she said, smiling rather mysteriously. "… Crap, I'm sorry, I completely forgot. My name's Ito Akane… I can be a tad air headed sometimes." She grinned awkwardly, twirling the wire of her headphones.

"It's nice to meet you, Ito-san." Minami said, glancing over at two boys tossing what looked to be a very expensive camera back and forth.

"Polite as always. We'll break it out of you." She grinned, and then ran off with a small wave.

"You were right." She said to a suddenly present Tsuchiya. "Weirdos. But they're fun, at least."

Apparently wearing a skirt was not the best idea. Minami sat on her folded legs, position uncomfortable but safe, at least.

"So are you going to just take pictures of plants, or….?" She commented drily, watching Tsuchiya kneel, taking artistic pictures of a leaf in a particular light or something.

"…. That's the idea." He replied. Was that annoyance hidden in his voice? Hmph.

"Because there's a butterfly over here."

Tsuchiya turned around, surprised, and his eyes widened as she silently pointed to a delicate looking bug with lavender wings.

He moved quickly but silently for a better shot, taking a quick succession of them, one after another. Minami watched in quiet fascination, until she realized he was angling his camera towards her.

"H-hey! Don't you dare!" She stage whispered, raising her hands to cover her face. "Go back to the bug."

Her neck and ears burned, but he returned to the purple photo subject with only a somewhat amused look.

Minami ended up helping out more then she thought she would. After the butterfly flew off on it's own, Tsuchiya asked her to stand in a certain spot to block the light, or push plants off to a direction for the perfect shot.

He was under strict orders to not take any pictures of her during these tasks.

"Do you have competitions here?" She asked him, leaning against a tree, glancing at her cell phone's screen. Apparently the group would be meeting up again soon.

"…Sometimes. Not today though."

'You'd win," she said automatically. …Wait. She froze, not meaning to sound so…gushy. "Today." She clarified quickly. "Because I'm here."

He turned around, lowering the camera. No words, just a smile and a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Shut up." Even though he didn't _say _anything… "Let's just go back now." She started walking, not even turning around to see if he was following her.

Sitting down at the tables, Minami realized awkwardly that apparently, she was supposed to take food with her. Damn it.

Everyone around her was popping open bento boxes, and sighed, mentally willing her grumbling stomach to go away.

Something bumped her elbow. She glanced to her left. Tsuchiya was silently pushing a bento box towards her, face blank but blushing. Maybe. It was hard to tell, as he was facing away from her.

She should of said, "no, I'm fine," as it was polite. But she was damn hungry.

And he should of said "Take it, It's my own stupid fault for not telling you that you were supposed to bring lunch." With about twenty more ellipses.

But instead she just opened it, leaving it between the two of them. The gesture spoke volumes.

She prayed no one noticed.

"You better not poison me," Minami muttered seriously. She took a bite. ….Really, really good. Was there no end to his list of hidden talents?  
"Edible." She declared. 'Thank you."

He just nodded.

After lunch was an exchange of pictures. Which, obviously, Minami opted out on. But she _did _proudly boast that the excellent results of Tsuchiya's photo shoot were thanks to her. Especially the butterfly shots.

She leaned over his shoulder, on tiptoes to get over the slight height difference, glancing over at the, as expected, amazing shots.

True to his word, there were no shots of a pink haired teenager in any, though maybe he had a secret file somewhere on the digital camera. It was hard to trust him after his… history.

Trees and flowers and the particularly pretty butterfly shots moved past as he glanced through them, expression discontent. Apparently, her sneaking skills weren't up to his par, because he glanced at her and commented "They're not very good," quietly.

"Are you kidding? They're fantastic." Her eyes widened.

He shrugged.

"Are you looking at the same pictures I am? You have to be crazy." She shook her head, almost hitting him in the face with her ponytail. She turned and sat on the table, almost pulling her knees up, before she realized how stupid that would be.

Tsuchiya caught her gaze, eyes unusually troubled.

"What's wrong?"

Nothing.

"Spit it out or I'll kick you. You can't just make me all worried and not answer."

"….. You're the first person."

She gave him a dark look. "I am not completely fluent in your minimal speech yet. Explain." She twisted her hand, gesturing for him to continue. He sighed, moving to sit next to her on the table, waiting a long moment to speak.

"…. You're the first person from class to know that I take pictures. Outside of…school shots." He euphemized, but it was pretty clear to get what he was saying.

"Seriously?" She glanced at him. What, did he think no one had figured it out yet? "Why? You're amazing at it. And, no offense, but I much prefer these photos the ones you _do _show people."

"…It doesn't really fit my image."

The statement reminded her strongly of when Minami had no idea about her fellow student's reputation for being the silent pervert. When she still thought he was a normal guy. Which was the exact encouragement she needed to push her into talking. "Tsuchiya. I'm on the list of girls _not _to date, and I have a rep of beating up anyone who I get mad at. According to the rumors I'm involved in a lesbian relationship. And I'm a no good German. And that I'm the stupidest girl at school," she was counting on her fingers now. "I could go on, but the point is- who cares? You shouldn't let your image affect what you do. You could make a career out of this, you know. Easily. And then no one could judge you. And if anyone did- I'd beat the crap out of them."

He was paying attention to her, dark blue eyes locked with hers, giving her enough focus that she found the confidence to say what she was thinking.

"And, for the record. I like the 'secret' you a lot better, the one who takes pictures of plants and doesn't treat girls like objects. Got it?" She glowered at him, to counter the sappy compliment. It was an unusually affectionate statement from her, brought on by pity and disbelief.

"…Yeah."

'Good, because I'd have to slap you if you made me say all that crap again." She hopped off the table, skirt flipping up as she did so. Graceful, Minami, she mocked herself, fixing it.

"C'mon, almost everyone's gone home by now."

He looked at her, wiped his nose (Never again will she willingly wear a mini skirt around him.) and slid off the table elegantly.

They walked home together in silence, Minami raking her fingers along gates and fencing as they walked.

"Too bad I didn't get to talk to anyone besides Ito-san," she mused quietly. "The others looked interesting."

"….. You could always come back."

"I don't have a camera, idiot." She laughed. "Besides dad's crappy broken one. I mean, if I did, I would, but…" She trailed off.

"…You can have one of mine." He sounded unsure, phrasing the response as an offer.

"What? No way! I couldn't." Minami blinked rapidly, talking quickly out of surprise.

"….I insist."

"I refuse." She crossed her arms.

"…I have plenty."

"So?" It was true though. He had a different camera every time she saw him, it seemed. She found her resolve dissolving.

"…I _want _you to have one."

Minami sighed. "_Fine_. But it has to be old. And one you never use. Or I'm not accepting it."

"… Deal."

"You are so weird." She rolled her eyes, forcing back a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

According to this site, I haven't updated this fic in... fifty days.

...Oh.

I really can't apologize enough, guys. I had to study for most of April and the beginning of May, and then I got distracted by other fics (yes, I do feel like an ass for uploading three Leviathan fics between updates to this, haha.)

THE TIME HAS COME, the walrus said, to finally update this damn thing. AND I HAVE GOOD NEWS: You're getting _another _chapter tomorrow! Yep.

Special thanks to Sarusal, who helped encourage me to get off my butt and finish this chapter.

Also, in case you might not know, some news:

The English Dvds/Blurays come out July 12th.

...But the first two dubbed episodes are on Youtube! (I am in love with English!Kouta, though not so much everyone else)

Season two will be sometime in July. (SO. EXCITED.)

And that's pretty much it!

* * *

…_Battle tomorrow. You ready?_

Minami cupped the phone in her hands, marveling at fact Tsuchiya even _texted_ like that.

_not really, tbh. you?_

_ Sort of. I'm sure you'll be fine._

_ lol, did you already forget how often i screw up in these things? thanks tho_

She sat back on her bed, pillows thumping as she fell upon them, remembering the day before, and getting debriefed about the battle plan at lunch. Trying to hide her surprise when Sakamoto announced she and Tsuchiya would be patrolling the hall outside the class room together.

For a second, she thought he knew. Figured out the whole thing. And then he continued with, "His math grades have gone up high enough to be able to back her up. Good job, by the way."

Sakamoto looked at him when he says it, but she still felt the comment ricochet off her student's chest and bounce back to her.

She pushed her face into her pillows, flinging her phone onto her bedside table. Minami groped blindly for the lamp, watching the light flick off from behind closed eyelids. Her phone rattled again on the table, a lonely sound in the dark room. She picked it up, propping herself up on her elbows, the unearthly glow from the cell cast over her sheets.

_… You're really helpful in most of the battles, though._

_ i guess, _she tapped in the dim lighting,_ we'll see which way it goes tmrw. heading to bed. night_

_ Goodnight._

She sighed, but strangely enough, it wasn't a completely unhappy one.

"Mein Gott," Minami gasped, unable to speak Japanese in her was similarly stunned, staring at the hall before them. Sakamoto had almost every single Class F member carry the desks from Class D to the hallway to Class F, hours before, a perfect barricade. It made a steady wall before them, every little sound echoing across.

"I was inspired by the first battle of the year," the redhead grinned from behind the barricade's guards. "When we blocked our door."

"…It's impressive." Tsuchiya said quietly, taking it all in.

"They can't replenish their scores now, either," he replied, ego booming. "All you two have to do is make sure anyone stupid enough to try and get through it don't make it to the class room. I've got a math teacher stationed here, no worries." He smiled at them, happy and confident. "We've got this."

And with that, he turned on his heel and returned to the classroom, probably expecting not to be bothered for the rest of the day.

Minami was still staring at the piled desks, hand over her mouth. "Wow." She glanced around it, taking everything in. There was mini tunnel formed by the stacking, but you'd have to crawl through it- and it'd make an awful lot of noise. The other Class F student looked with her, but soon sunk back.

Tsuchiya sat down on the floor, pressed to the wall, fiddling with his camera.

"You nervous?" His tutor blinked at him, reading his mood easily.

"….. I wish it wasn't math."

"You'll do fine," Minami waved her hand at him dismissively, rolling her eyes. "Your scores have gone way up. And plus, if we did health, I'd be absolutely doomed."

"…I could handle it for you." He smiled slightly up at her, heavy lashed eyes obscured by his bangs.

"Oh, but I can't do the same for you? Misogynistic bastard." She scoffed, but the insult had no bite to it.

"…I don't even know what that means." He admitted quietly, looking at his feet, and Minami laughed before muffling her mouth with her hands.

"Idiot."

They were going over practice problems when they both looked up suddenly, hearing a noise on the other end of the barricade. The way they were set up, the two on patrol would be warned of an attacking party long before they arrived, due to all the noises they would make journeying through the desks. Minami stood up, alert and ready to fight, watching dark shapes crawl through.

"Here we go."

"…Isn't that…?" The blue haired photographer said, turning his head to the side as they caught snatches of a conversation. But Tsuchiya never finished the question, startled into action by the arrival of a group of three students.

Including a Miss Shimizu Miharu.

Minami cursed under her breath. "Hello, Miharu." She muttered darkly, her Summon bristling in front of her.

"Good afternoon, darling," Miharu chirped cheerfully, oblivious to Minami's less then enthusiastic greeting. She bounced on the balls of her feet. "It's been so long!"

"Not long enough," Minami muttered under her breath. She caught Tsuchiya smiling slightly at the comment.

Miharu noticed the expression as well, though apparently not the comment that sparked it.

"Oh. It's you." She pouts at him, looking him over. Her teammates stand behind her, ready to step in.

"You're the one with the photos, aren't you?" Miharu waited for him to nod. "Well, while I _do _appreciate you selling them," she practically purred, "You better not being doing anything with my honey."

Minami reminded herself to yell at Tsuchiya for selling _her_, of all people, photos, but for now, she took a confident step forward.

Her summon got ready to fight, crouching down in front of her.

"Ah-ah-ah," Miharu tisked, grinning. "Not so fast." From behind the three Class D members behind her, a taller figure emerged, and Minami paled.

She couldn't remember his name, but she was pretty sure he taught history. Which was very, very, very bad.

"Permission for a subject change?" One of boys said, glancing at the teacher. He yawned. "Permission granted." A light washed over the hall as the subject switched from Math to History in an instant.

Oh no. The pony tailed German panicked, heading for the wall, but it was too late- Miharu's summon had pounced on hers, sword impaling the tiny figure. It shrieked in alarm, and Miharu's summon grinned at the reaction.

It was over in seconds. Minami's stomach dropped, and she spun to try and warn Tsuchiya- but he was gone. No one else seemed to have noticed. The idiot- where was he? Things were getting worse and worse.

"Can I leave now?" The teacher said, stifling another yawn. The boys were high fiving each other and grinning. "Go ahead!"

Minami put her hand on her face, watching the teacher crawl under the desks through her fingers, wishing she could join him. Why was she so _stupid?_

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.

"There, there, honey. I'm here for you." The redhead murmured sweetly. Minami blanched, pushing the smaller girl away.

Miharu gave another pout. "Why so aggressive? Playing hard to get?" Minami scowled openly, heading for the desks. She could climb up them and wait for Iron Man to arrive; she definitely did not want to spend any more time with the class D girl.

She reached for a high desk, being careful to distribute her weight evenly, putting her knees up and pushing herself along.

"Honey!" Miharu called up apprehensively, hesitating a climb of her own. Minami scoffed and pulled herself all the way up, tucking her feet in beneath her. It was from here that she glanced out across the hall and gasped.

Tsuchiya was running down in a full sprint, the math teacher that Class F secured following him. He was absolutely silent, and the boys were to busy chatting, awaiting reinforcements to notice. And Miharu, of course, stared at Minami, completely unaware of the photographer's return.

From her perfect perch above the barricade, she watched his Summon pop out in a burst of color. It stopped for a minute, faced the unaware Class D members- and shot a photo.

The light from the flash was strong enough to make Minami flinch and look away. When she returned to the battle, blinking away spots- she saw that every last Summon had been killed, all taken down by his score of-

…..There was no way that was correct.

The team all gaped at him.

"140!" The tallest boy yelped. "How the hell did _that _happen?"

"I thought he was an idiot except for Health!"

"This is _so_ not okay, bro."

Minami slid on her butt across the desks, climbing down quickly. Tsuchiya had spotted her and moved to meet her, with a smile larger then she had ever seen him wear.

Once she was at the lowest level, the blue haired hero reached out his hand to help her- but instead of taking it, she managed some sort of flying tackle leap, and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"I can't- I don't believe it," she said breathlessly, mostly because she just dived off a desk, but the surprise helped. Tsuchiya staggered back to keep hold of her, looking red faced and surprised. He was also, she noted with amusement, grinning like an idiot. "I'm so proud of you," she beamed, catching his dark blue eyes with her green.

"…. It's nothing."

"Well, yeah, you would say tha-"

"Get- off- of- my- Minami!" Miharu hissed, enunciating every word with a strong kick to the photographer's legs. Minami blushed to her toes, a heavy brick of dread crashing into her. Oh, shit.

She leapt back from Tsuchiya like he was on fire, putting her uniform back in order fussily. Oh God, what had she done? There were four people here—not including a teacher!

Tsuchiya pulled back as well, trying to avoid his fellow student's rage.

"How dare you!" Miharu howled. "I trusted you, thought you were halfway decent!" She threw herself at him, fists out, and her barely sidestepped her. His hands were out in a gesture of peace.

"Of course I was wrong! You're just a stinky, rude, horrible _boy, _taking advantage of my honey!"

Miharu seemed to have missed the part where Minami hugged _him. _She was too stunned (at herself, why exactly did she do that?) and worried about the other students to defend him from the crazy admirer.

For the first time in her life, she was relieved by the arrival of Iron Man. He burst through the desks (That would have to be fixed later.) and shouted, as usual:

"Students who lose will be forced to take remedial classes!"

She practically had it memorized now.

He was about to lift her up by her shirt collar, but she held up her hands. "I'll walk, thank you."

He shrugged, and then bent to pick up a shrieking Miharu, still attempting to kill Tsuchiya.

She glanced at him, smiling despite herself. "You've got a new enemy, it seems," she joked.

He looks at her seriously. "….It was worth it." And then gives another smile, a remarkable number in one day.

She followed Iron Man without thinking. It wasn't until after she was sitting in the classroom, working on her make up work, that she frowned and wondered what exactly he meant by that.


	10. Chapter 10

By my time, it's 8:47, which is just before midnight on the east coast, which where most of y'all are (I think) SO I WIN.

It happens to be the tenth chapter, so it's a... special update, i'll just say.

Even though it took a while, I'm really happy I got to ten.

Thank you, for sticking with me through the hiatus! I LOVE YAAA.

* * *

"And a toast for Tsuchiya Kouta, who single handedly managed to take out Class D's invading party." Sakamoto's voiced boomed, seated at the head of the table.

Minami beamed, lifting up her drink with the rest of Class F, cups clinking together. Tsuchiya blushed slightly, but smiled, clinking his glass with hers and his other friends.

Today was a really, really awesome day.

They had won the last battle of the year- of course, they'd declined an equipment switch again, for some strange reason Sakamoto didn't share. It didn't matter much though, as they only had a few weeks left. Winning felt _amazing. _And she was happy to see Tsuchiya getting all this well earned praise.

But every time she looked at him, she remembered the feeling of wrapping her arms around him and laughing.

She quietly sipped her soda, face heating at her embarrassment about embracing him in front of the other students.

…Or at least, that's why she _thought_ she was blushing. Minami stared down at the table, turning her straw with her index finger. Mizuki was sitting next to her, a healthy distance from Akihisa. They still hadn't made up, apparently. Her best friend's hair hung over her face in curtains, and she hadn't looked up since the toast.

Not everyone was in a good mood, apparently.

Minami gave Akihisa a cautious look over. It was strange, staring at him without the butterflies and heart pounding feelings that normally came with it. Now he was just… Yoshii Akihisa. A stupid jerkass she hated dealing with for the most part, but her friend. Sort of.

Her feelings weren't very friendly towards him at the moment, though, seeing as he had made her best friend turn into an emotional zombie lately. He was laughing with an increasingly uncomfortable looking Kinoshita, but he kept sending Mizuki quick glances over his shoulder.

Minami sighed. Really, all she planned to do tonight was hang out with friends and drink soda until she threw up But she hated seeing Mizuki looking so depressed, and it would be the _good _thing to do…

"Mizuki," She hissed. The pink haired girl turned to face her, eyes owl like. "We need to talk. She nodded, pushing out her chair and striding across the resteraunt. When she left, the eyes of all the boys followed her. (except Kinoshita, who was scooting his chair farther away from Akihisa)

But of course, no one noticed when she walked away. She rolled her eyes, following her best friend.

Minami pushed open the door to the girl's bathroom. "Yeah, not the best place to talk, I know, but it works."

Mizuki just glanced around, still looking gloomy. "What do you want to talk about, Minami-san?"

"You've been depressed for the past couple weeks." Mizuki flinched a little, but nodded. "Did you break up with-"

"No!" The other student said quickly, shaking her head. "It's not that!"

Minami had to turn away so she could roll her eyes in peace. Seriously? It was so _obvious_, and the fact that she was lying to her…

"It's not that," Mizuki repeated quietly. "We're just… distant, right now." She leaned against the wall, and sighed, her pink curls squished. "I'm a really, really horrible girlfriend." Her voice gradually grew softer as she said it.

Minami raised an eyebrow. "No way. If anything, Yoshii is a horrible boyfriend."

Mizuki shook her head fiercely. "No, he's not! It's me." She swallowed. "I lie to him all the time…"

Now she was _really _confused. The Mizuki she knew didn't lie. Ever. "About what?" She ventured.

"Everything." She sighed. "Pretending to be someone I'm not." She pushed back her hair with one hand, glancing at Minami. "You've got it so easy, you know. You can just…be you, and no one cares. But when I got to Class F, everyone thought…"

She dropped to the ground of the bathroom, head buried in her knees. Her voice came out muffled.

"That I was some… some perfect little flower. Delicate and girly and flawless."

Guilt hit Minami hard. If anyone had ever made her describe her best friend, those were pretty much the words she would use.

"I mean… I look it, don't I? With the hair, and the frailness…" She sighed. "But I can't cook, can't sing, can't sew… Can't do a single girly thing."

Minami settled herself down next to her. "Screw them," She said loudly, "If they think girls need to do girly things."

Mizuki glanced up at her, smiling. "Yeah, I guess. But I feel like Aki only likes me because of… the girly things."

"You've given him some of your cooking before, right?"

"Yes?"

"Pretty sure he knows that you can't do that, then." She grinned. "And he's probably guessed the other things by now. He can be a real ass sometimes, but I'm pretty sure he genuinely likes you, Mizuki."

She almost added that she was lucky for that.

But she didn't.

"You think so?" She ran her thumb across the bottom of her eyes, wiping away tiny tears.

"Of course. I was getting kinda jealous of your perfection, so this helps." She laughed.

Mizuki stared at her in surprise. 'Really?"

"Well… a little." She added quickly, not wanting to get into the whole Akihisa thing. "The grades, mostly, though."

Her best friend laughed. "Yeah, but I have to study all the time for them! You probably don't have to try for math at all."

"Are you kidding? Every week, I have to study with…" She froze, catching herself. "With Hazuki."

Mizuki gave her a look over. "You weren't going to say that."

She cleared her throat. "I help her out with her math, that's it."

Her best friend just kept staring at her with a strange look on her face, then finally shook her head.

"Whatever you say, Minami-san."

She could sense it was time to change the subject. "Anyway, you should go back in there," she mimed walking, "Slap him across the face, and tell him you want him back. Gets everything sorted out, _and _people will stop thinking you're just a fluffy haired weak thing!"

Mizuki gaped at her, stifling a laugh. "No way!"

"Do it!" She stood up, walking towards the paper dispensers. She pulled out a paper towel, and wet it in the sink, wadding it up in a ball. Raising it with a giant grin, she turned towards Mizuki.

"D-don't you dare!" Mizuki squeaked, bursting out into giggles.

"Go confront him, then!"

"I can't!"

Minami gave a fake sigh. "You can't say I didn't warn you." And with perfect accuracy, she chucked a paper towel at her.

Mizuki shrieked, getting up and heading to a sink of her own. Dodging more bombs from Minami, she began constructing her own.

They continued their war for twenty minutes, until some woman walked in, giving them both a dirty look as she noticed the clumps of wet paper scattered around the bathroom. It was just as well. Minami had almost run out of paper towels.

They walked out laughing loudly, partially soaked, too engaged with giggling to notice the activities of the Class F students.

So it wasn't until they were just in front of the table that they saw that the entire group was singing, and drinking from some very suspicious looking cups and bottles.

"Oh dear." Mizuki said quietly. "Is… is that?"

"….Yeah."

Apparently, when leaving to have their chat, they missed someone breaking out the alcohol.

Kinoshita was surrounded by guys, though he didn't look uncomfortable at all, contrasting to earlier in the evening. Sakamoto was on the phone with someone, most likely the class rep. And Akihisa…

He was looking at Mizuki, eyes practically glowing.

Laughing loudly, he grabbed for her arm. "There you are!" He chirped, cheerfully. "S'was looking for ya. Couldn't find." She flinched slightly before letting him take it, shooting Minami an embarrassed, helpless look. All her best friend could do was shrug.

Minami settled into the seat, sighing. There was some unattended alcohol on the table, but she was very firmly against taking it. Her parents could tell if someone was drunk simply by smell. It was a doctor thing, apparently.

Didn't mean she couldn't watch everyone else act like idiots, though. Kirishima was probably pleased; drunk or not, her boyfriend was murmuring very sweetly into the phone, voice soft. It would probably be nice to have someone talk to her like that, though she'd vastly prefer them to be sober.

Several of the boys, who's names she was unaware of, were singing a song about failing tests and never giving up, loudly and off key. They seemed to be having fun, however.

Mizuki, to her credit, was trying to talk to Aki, sitting across from him, but all he was doing was playing with her hair and laughing way too loudly. On the side of the table, Minami was very close to busting in and separating Kinoshita from the other guys. She swore one of them just tried groping his chest- to find nothing there.

It was difficult, being the only responsible one in a group. Part of her was hoping that Tsuchiya had enough brains in him to hold off, but one look at him loping back to the table, practically turning over every seat in the restaurant crushed that. She slapped a hand to her face and groaned. Standing up (everyone was far too inebriated to notice this gesture, she reassured herself) she walked towards him, guiding him back to the table. Tsuchiya smiled at her gratefully.

"You're here now? I was wondering where you went. I mean, you were here, and then you weren't…" He drifted off, blinking his long lashes at her in confusion. She was momentarily stunned. She had never heard him string so many words together before. And he hadn't hesitated before he spoke, either. It was… bizarre.

"Look." He handed his camera to her quickly, almost dropping it. "Pictures." She guided him to a chair while sitting in another.

His tutor decided to humor him, clicking the camera on and checking the recent photos. She winced, looking at them. They were… not up to par, to say the least. Completely blurry, and half of them were upside down. The other half was all slanted. He had taken pictures of everything- doors, random people, other students, his shoes.

"…Why are they all slanted or upside down?"

"It's supposed to be _artistic_," He said, suddenly glaring at her. He then sighed. "But I guess you really wouldn't understand."

Minami was having more trouble understanding who exactly had taken over Tsuchiya's body.

"I think," she said carefully, "You need to go home." If he was drunk enough to be acting like a completely different person…. Yeah, she definitely did not trust him to walk home by himself.

"But," he gave a sad puppy look. "Nobody else is leaving, Shimada. Can't we just stay?"

She tried to not flinch at the way he said _we_. "Yeah, but everyone else isn't a super light weight like you." Even Kinoshita seemed to be keeping better composure of himself. "I don't think you can walk home alone. Let's go."

She helped him off the seat, and he leaned on her heavily.

"I'm helping this idiot home. See you guys later." Thank God they didn't have school tomorrow.

Several of the Class F mates boo'd her, though most were working on comforting the one sobbing in the corner.

"Bye bye!" Aki grinned, winking at Tsuchiya. Next to him, Mizuki raised an eyebrow. Damn it. She was really not being careful today…

"Let's go," She repeated, walking the blue haired boy out the door.

Minami opted out on taking the bus, assuming that the driver would not be pleased to see someone obviously under 18 so drunk. Plus, Tsuchiya's house was close. She half listened to him tell a story about one of the Class F guys with a fake ID getting drinks for all of them, focusing on locating his house. It was only nine or so, which meant that her parents wouldn't be home for a while, thankfully.

It was probably good that he was only slightly taller then her, otherwise the leaning wouldn't work out too well. She sighed in relief when she saw his doorstep.

"Your mom isn't home… right?"

He gave her a look, which was much more like the Tsuchiya she was used to. "No. Never is."

"Well, there we go, then. You're an idiot, and any respect I had for you today has completely gone down the drain." She grinned at him. He just nodded, too drunk to actually take in her words. He put his hands in his jeans pockets—and searched for a minute for his keys.

Minami found that it was difficult to turn away from someone so obviously struggling.

"…Other pocket."

"Oh, right." The photographer pulled the keys out, and started for his doorknob… where he proceeded to fumble again.

Something broke inside Minami.

"Just hand them over." She muttered, frustrated. Upon receiving them she pulled the door open in one quick motion, and ushered Tsuchiya into the house, getting increasingly annoyed.

He swerved towards the couch- and she dragged him away, to spare the sleeping cat already on the cushions.

"We're going to your room."

He gave her a look that made her ears burn. "I didn't mean it like that," she hissed. Dragging him through the house, he gave her helpful instructions like "turn that way" and "no, not here."

Finally, she pushed open a door that looked, for all intents a purpose, to be his bedroom.

He yawned, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "…Thank you, Minami." Like the good morning he gave her ages ago, it was barely audible- and he had moved right up next to her ear.

Surprised, she swallowed hard. "D-don't call me that." Even though the sound of her name in his voice hadn't been strictly unpleasant.

"Most people wouldn't," he said, ignoring her comment. "So thank you."

He looked at her for a while, and then suddenly leaned forward, his head under her jaw. Everything froze for a moment, and Minami found herself waiting for her disgust to kick in, pushing him away.

Nothing.

His hair tickled her chin. "You're the best," he said, lips moving against her throat, a distractingly pleasant feeling. He shifted, slightly, and kissed her collarbone with the softest brush she could imagine.

Her skin burned, and she could felt her heart get ready to burst out of her chest. It was obvious that he could hear it as well, thudding in a way she was pretty damn sure it never did for Akihisa. The room was dark, masking her blush, but doing nothing to hide the way she wasn't breathing.

Tsuchiya straightened, giving her eye contact, like they had when they hugged, just a few hours ago.

It felt like decades.

Hesitating- it was weird, how that made her feel like the old Tsuchiya was back- he touched her waist, like he was waiting for her to stop him.

If she wanted him to.

She wondered for a moment, if she had somehow gotten drunk on the atmosphere. His hand lifted up her shirt with the up most delicacy, and when his fingers tips brushed her bare skin…

Minami jumped back, suddenly awake, heart pounding and head reeling. "I can't. I can't, not if you're like this." The words fell out in a rush, and it was far too late to take them back.

He looks her over, a slow stare that makes her shiver, and then nods.

She bolted out of the house, skin burning, collarbone and waist singed by his touch.


	11. Chapter 11

...Well, since my last update, 2 (3, if you count today's) episodes of Season 2 have aired. ... Whoops.

I have been LOVING this season so far. SO MUCH CROSSDRESSING. Hope you guys have been loving it too!

This chapter took a bit because of my... problems with a character. I'm not the biggest fan of her and it took a very long time for me to be happy with this chapter. So I'm sorry for that.

I'd like to thank ALL OF MY LOVELY REVIEWERS, ALL OF 'EM, but especially Insert Spiffy Name Here.. Having a fic of mine recommended on Tvtropes had always been a nerdy dream for me. SO THANK YOU.

And if you haven't checked it out already, I wrote a Minami/Kouta oneshot a couple weeks ago, called Kodak. IT HAS KISSING.

* * *

Minami pushed her face into her pillow Sunday morning, covers pushed up to her ears. She did _not _want to wake up today. Doing so would mean admitting the previous night was not some horribly twisted dream, and… She sighed into her pillow, looking at the strands of pink-red hair curled around in looping strands by her face.

She really shouldn't have been this reluctant to accept the events of the previous day; wasn't it something she had expected since taking him on as her student?

…. Well, yeah, it was no wonder that Tsuchiya, drunk enough to break down the barriers that kept him from groping every girl he met, would come on to her. But she had actually _let _him for a while.

One of her hands touched her neck softly, and she sighed again. Well, he had been drunk. She didn't feel morally comfortable beating up people who had no sense.

…Or something like that.

Pushing herself up, she yawned, stretching, the straps of her sea green tank top slipping. It was time, she thought sulkily, for damage control.

She had thought it over enough since coming home- she wasn't _happy _with Tsuchiya for what he did, but she couldn't exactly blame him.

And somewhere- deep, deep, deep down- she thought it was a stupid reason to stop being friends with someone.

….Not like they were close friends in the first place, or anything.

Her phone sat on her bedside table as usual, thrown down after she came home (her clothes were buried at the bottom of the laundry basket, smelling too strongly of alcohol to keep her parents from being suspicious). She had turned the touch screen phone on silent before she had gone to bed, so now she reached over for it, checking to see if she had gotten any text messages or calls overnight.

Minami glanced at the screen… and did a double take. There were dozens of text messages, all sitting pretty in her inbox.

And every single one was from one Tsuchiya Kouta.

She went to the very bottom, tapping the first unread text he had sent her. Judging by the time, it was just after she left his house.

9:17:_ cant sleep at allll_

And the next.

9:18_: my head hurts bleehhh_

And so it went.

9:20:_ r u awake_

9:20: _cuz i am and it sucks_

9:21: _if you are and your ignoring me then im mad at u_

9:21: _unless ur already mad at me_…

9:21: _shit I didnt even think of that_

9:24: _whatever_

His conversation with himself continued for a while, and Minami tried to break the smile appearing across her face. It _was_ pretty funny.. .He explained to her the contents of his fridge, how bad his head hurt, and his complete inability to fall asleep.

The topic of his texts, because nothing in her life could ever be that easy, eventually drifted away from drunken mindlessness.

10:51: _ok_

10:51: _I keep thinking about when u left?_

10:52: _and maybe i went 2 far._

10:52: _but rite now I do not caareee_

10:52: _everthins spinning_

11:11: _make a wish_

11:11: _well ur prolly asleep_

11:12: _or ignoring me._

11:14: _this house is so boringggg_

11:17: _even the cat is asleep_

11:17: _sooooo borrrinnnggggggggg_

11: 30: _i miss you._

11:30: _why did you leave?_

11:34: _um ignore that_

11:39: _sorry that was stupid_

Minami rubbed her face, looking away from the screen. She didn't know if she'd be able to read all of these. They were doing nothing to distract her from what the particulars of last night meant. Doing quite the opposite, really.

11:42: _startin to thhink I wont fall asleep until daylighttt_

11:43: _good thing theres no schooolll _

11:44: _hate school_

11:44: _like alotttt_

He followed it up with a long rant about how much school sucked, and how he only put up with it for the people there. Minami was glad he wasn't talking about her anymore.

12:32: _my eyes keep closing without me asking them 2_

12:32: _guess that daylight plan won't work._

12:36: _sorry I called you minami_

12:38: _….. soryy that i did it again_

1:02: _why r there so many boxes in my house_

1:04: _one just just hit me on the head_

1:04: _ow ):_

1:05: _this better be worth it._

1:07: _ok found it_

1:07: _whoaaa i suddnly got super dizy_

1:08: _sleeeep_

There was a large gap in messages, which she guessed was when he passed out instantly. They followed up with texts from earlier this morning.

7:58: _… I'm sorry._

8:00: _I went too far. _

8:01: _And I know those stupid texts didn't help._

8:05: _If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine._

8:05:_. …Just text me back when you get these._

She glanced at the phone, a weird feeling washing over her. The last message was sent two hours ago. He had probably sat there waiting for her response. …Well, between throwing up, now that she thought about it. Stupid hung over idiot.

She went to start a new message- and then hesitated, changing course and going to the call section of her phone instead.

It rang once before he picked up.

"….Hi." It was new for him to speak first.

"Hey."

"…I'm sorry."

"Yeah," She grinned, "I know, you told me like ten times. It's fine. I'm not going to blame you for something when you did when you were that drunk." She swore she heard him sigh. "Why were you getting so panicky in your texts, anyways? Is it that hard to find another good tutor?"

She heard his breath catch, a soft, strangely delicate noise.

"…. I didn't want to lose a friend." He said, tone of voice strange.

Her heart was pounding. She chose to ignore it. And ignore the rational part of her brain telling her that it made no sense. "Right. We're fine though. Still friends." That's all. The night before had just been a huge mistake. Could happen to anyone.

"…. That's good." Tsuchiya said, voice soft.

"I guess you're too sick for studying today?" Minami asked, quickly changing the subject.

"…Probably."

"That's fine. Feel better soon. Bread helps, according to my parents. Doctors."

"…I'll try that. If I can eat."

She grinned, and then felt bad about it. "This is why you don't drink."

"…I know that _now."_

"Go get some rest, then, idiot. I don't want you to barf all over the phone."

"…. I tried to go back to bed when I woke up, but I couldn't. Too groggy. And confused."

"Wait, drinking makes you hung over? _No way._"

He gave something that might have been a laugh, she couldn't tell. "Sorry that I'm missing studying today."

"It's fine. Leaves you a day to sit and feel guilty about what you've done," Minami teased, grinning.

"….You just told me not to worry about it."

"Changed my mind. I thought you were going to be all pathetic and barfy, and I felt bad. Now I'm just angry all over again."

"…. Do you want me to throw up on the phone?"

"No!" She said, bursting out laughing in surprise. "That would be gross. Please don't. Seriously. I take it back again. We're fine. Just don't."

Tsuchiya gave a sort of half laugh and then groaned. "… My head hurts."

"Goodbye, Tsuchiya."

There was a noise of someone searching through a kitchen. "… I have no aspirin."

"Are you going to sit here and complain to me all day?"

"…..It's you or Haru."

"Haru? …Wait, that's your cat, right?"

He made a tired little noise in affirmation.

"Huh." Well, she finally knew what it was. She glanced at the length of the call on her phone. "Alright, that's enough. Stop talking to me and go rest."

There was a pause. She waited for him to say something, but he just made another small noise and hung up the phone.

"Idiot." She said loudly to her wall, rolling her eyes.

"…. Shimada."

Minami rolled her eyes and turned around, glancing at Tsuchiya in the open courtyard at the front of the school, just a bit after class got out. Several days had gone by since the phone call, and no more then an eye roll when she caught him staring in class had passed between them."What do you want, Tsuchiya?" She asked loudly, crossing her arms in an display of annoyance without having to try very hard. So much for going to the effort to keeping this whole thing quiet.

"…They're not going to notice." He said, gesturing towards the oblivious looking students milling around outside, busy with their own personal drama. "… I just wanted to say that I found a camera for you."

She smiled slightly, recalling the box-related texts. "You must have been super bored when you were drunk."

He returned the smile somewhat, while nodding slightly and removing a black camera. It had a few scratches, but looking brand new, otherwise.

Noticing her skeptical look, he muttered, "I got a few years ago." Minami took it from him, taking in every detail quietly.

"...There's a club meeting in about an hour." He scratched at the back of his neck, looking past her.

"I can go, if that's what you're awkwardly trying to ask." She grinned, expression less then innocent.

He hesitated, as if he ready to protest at being called awkward, despite the truth of it, but instead shut his mouth and nodded. Laughing slightly, she turned on her heel. "I have to go grab my stuff. Wait for me at the gate." Waiting for his nod, she sped off back towards the school at a half jog.

The school was mostly empty, aside from a lone figure, whom Minami ignored. She sped past her… and then did a double take.

Said girl was holding her bag. Doubling back, she shot Kudo Aiko a horribly confused look.

"…Thank you?" She started, before the girl talked over her loudly.

"Thought you'd be back for this! Nuh-uh," She added, when Minami made a grab for the straps. "Want to talk to you first. Don't worry, I'll make this quick."

Now Minami was getting _really _worried. She talked to the Class A student sometimes, sure, but she never had tried to seek her out before. Kudo Aiko didn't really seem to bother with anyone without a Y chromosome, for the most part.

Kudo leaned against the wall, placing on the bag on her shoulder with ease. Like she hadn't just kidnapped it.

"So that was some party on Saturday, huh?"  
"I guess?" She had more fun fighting Mizuki in the bathroom, honestly.

"Too bad I missed it," She gave a force sigh, still sounding extremely casual. She glanced at her nails, chipped and polish free. "Heard Voyeur-kun started acting _really_ weird."

Minami very suddenly knew what this conversation was about. She weighed the pros and cons of just buying a new bag and running, but the green haired girl continued before she could execute that plan.

"Would you know anything about that?" She asked, grinning widely.

Minami cleared her throat. "And how exactly do you know?

She shrugged. "Drunk boys plagued by hormones text one of their best friends. Who in turn texts his other best friend. Who texts _his _girlfriend, who texts someone who's actually smart enough to figure out all of this crap." She illustrated with her hands as she spoke, and then stopped suddenly, as if she had just noticed Minami's growing panic.

"Oh, don't freak out. He never actually said it was you. I just made a logical guess."

Minami exhaled sharply through her nose, looking up at the ceiling, while she tried to keep her irritation in check.

"And what's your point? I know you two have a…. thing." A thing she had been trying to avoid thinking about, but it was true that she was _always _flirting with him, whenever they were in a big group.

"We don't have a thing, actually. Never had, and never will." Kudo replied curtly. "That the only thing stopping you from jumping him?"

"W-_wha_t?"

"Yeah, alright, didn't think it'd be that easy. You _are _going to have to accept it one of these days, though. Denial is unhealthy."

"I don't _like him."_ Minami hissed in reply.

"You're touching your neck right now, sweetheart." She said slowly, as if painfully aware she was talking to a Class F student.

The other girl dropped her hand from her neck quickly. She had been tracing the areas that Tsuchiya had kissed for the past couple minutes. Damn.

"That doesn't- I mean—I was just _flustered-_" Minami stumbled on her words, desperately trying to prove her wrong.

"Save it. No time to deal with your tsundere bullshit right now. Just listen to me." Kudo paused to make sure Minami wasn't going to interrupt her again, and then continued. "Just suck it up, Shimada. Nobody cares that you like a guy you shouldn't. You're the only girl in this school more badass than I am, and we shouldn't take shit from _anyone. _ Also, I am super sick of the sexual frustration you two emit wherever you go. I am _this close_ to just shoving you two into a closet." She illustrated the distance with her fingers.

It was most certainly the weirdest motivation speech Minami had ever heard.

"…You never really seemed like the feelings type to me," She said finally, dodging everything the green haired girl said neatly.

"Such is the intention. It's my big dark secret," She sighed. "Keep it quiet and I _won't _spread it around that you almost got into Voyeur's pants last week."

"Wha-"

"Later, Shimada." She threw her bag back to her, laughing. "And do try that whole feelings thing. For the people who can't." And with that cryptic comment, she tossed her hair and turned on her heel.

Feeling a headache coming on, Minami left in the other direction, hoping that the last of her blush would be gone by the time she rejoined Tsuchiya.


End file.
